escalate

«escalate» in Mova's school dictionary: To become bigger, worse or more serious, as in «The… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

part of speech

verb (escalate, escalates, escalated, escalating); noun escalation

meaning for a pupil

1) To become bigger, worse or more serious, as in «The argument escalated into a fight». tree →

2) To make something bigger or more serious. tree →

3) To pass a problem to a more senior person, as in «escalate a complaint». tree →

sense in the lessons

In citizenship, news and conflict lessons: wars and quarrels can escalate; good friends «de-escalate» by calming things down, listening and walking away. In everyday life prices «escalate» (rise fast). In safety lessons, if a problem escalates, tell a trusted adult. Phrase: «escalate into».

examples

• The small argument escalated into a shouting match. tree →
• Prices escalated during the winter. tree →
• The teacher stepped in before things escalated. tree →
• The fighting between the two countries escalated. tree →
• If the problem escalates, tell an adult. tree →
• Let's calm down so this doesn't escalate. tree →

note

Regular verb. Opposite: «de-escalate». Related to «escalator», the moving stairs that take you up.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «escalate» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.