How to use escalate in a sentence

40 example sentences · verb

Escalate means to increase (something) in extent or intensity; to intensify or step up. Example: “Violence escalated during the election.”

Examples of escalate by meaning

verbTo increase (something) in extent or intensity; to intensify or step up.

Violence escalated during the election.
The shooting escalated the existing hostility.
A small fight escalated into a big fight.

verbIn technical support, to transfer a customer, a problem, etc. to the next higher level of authority.

The tech 1 escalated the caller to a tech 2.

verbTo climb.

Thus, actually a prior uncounselled misdemeanor conviction may often prove to be a boon to one escalating the ladder of crime to the point where he has been convicted of a major aggravated offense.1975, Federal Reporter, page 537
They escalated upstairs to the Mall coffee tables.1977, Graham Jackson, The Coals of Juniper, Champion Publications, →ISBN, page 48
Firms move to higher and higher levels of conflict in each arena, as if they are escalating up a ladder with each rung representing the new level of competition introduced by the last competitive maneuver.1994, Richard A. D’Aveni, Hypercompetition: Managing the Dynamics of Strategic Maneuvering, The Free Press, →ISBN

verbTo move by escalator.

There were people just about everywhere, packing the garish fluorescent-lit corridors, riding in humming golf carts, escalating up and down escalators, floating along on those George Jetson moving sidewalk thingies.2014, James Patterson, Burn (Michael Bennett), Arrow Books, published 2015, →ISBN, page 32
Escalating up the up escalator at Green Park Tube station was a hundred times better than walking up two loads of steps at Oxford Circus.2022, Kes Gray, Daisy and the Trouble with London, Red Fox, →ISBN

More sentences with escalate

The diplomats are trying to defuse the escalating crisis.From the entry defuse
He intimated that we should leave before the argument escalated.From the entry intimate
His inclination to drink escalated to alcoholism.From the entry inclination
The escalating protests resulted in widespread civil unrest.From the entry result in
In the first scenario, a minor skirmish escalated into a multiweek maritime blockade of Taiwan by China.2026 January 19, Bonnie S. Glaser, Zack Cooper, “A Failed Chinese Invasion of Taiwan Would Be Disastrous for Xi Jinping”, in Foreign…. From the entry de-escalate
There is silence, then the sound of weeping, which escalates to heart-rending, gasping sobs.2023 April 14, Roslyn Sulcas, “Review: Grief and Mourning, Delivered With Ecstatic Vitality”, in The New York Times, archived from the…. From the entry transmute
Just stick to the flowchart and escalate properly depending on dialectics.2022 February 18, Dan Erickson, “Good News About Hell”, in Severance, season 1, episode 1, spoken by Harmony Cobel (Patricia Arquette). From the entry shadow
The initial ambush, conducted with small arms, escalated into deployment of heavy armor supported by rocket artillery.2021 March 29, Blake Herzinger, “China’s Military Could Turn Small Clashes Into Major Conflicts”, in Foreign Policy, archived from the…. From the entry Zhenbao Island
But that's the sort of thing that can happen when shenanigans infinitely escalate.2020 September 30, CGP Grey, 10:39 from the start, in Supreme Court Shenanigans !!!, archived from the original on 16 Jan 2024. From the entry shenanigans
I think in a way, if we take the guns away, the shootings may escalate.2018 February 23, Richard Ayoade, The Last Leg, Season 14, Episode 5. From the entry gun
Unfortunately, tricks, treats and spoopy shenanigans aren't the only things escalating in the runup to Halloween.2018 October 29, Sara Serrano, “Where have all the cats gone? Campus cats mysteriously vanish around Collins Hall”, in Justin…. From the entry spoopy
I believe we saw the incident escalated to a dangerous level by BLM leadership or lack thereof.2015, Committee on Natural Resources, Threats, Intimidation and Bullying by Federal Land Managing Agencies, Part II, Oversight Hrg.…. From the entry throw gas on the fire
As Cambridge historian Mervyn James commented, "silly quarrels escalated into battles in the streets."2009 Winter, John M. Kang, “Manliness and the Constitution”, in Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy, volume 32, number 1, page 261. From the entry comment
It is the specific pacing of escalating kino that is important, not the physical touches.2007 February 6, Erik von Markovik, The Mystery Method: How to Get Beautiful Women Into Bed, St. Martin's Press, →ISBN, →OL, page 138. From the entry kino
And, they say, the use of auditory displays will continue to escalate.2002 April 24, “Stop, Look, and Listen: The Growing Importance of Sound in Daily Life”, in AScribe Newswire. From the entry sonify
When he turned twenty, he escalated the date of his demise to twenty-five.1989, Kathy Lette, Girl′s Night Out, →ISBN, page 86. From the entry cark it
These threats ended half of these incidents, while the others escalated to higher levels of force.1986, Kenneth C. Haas, Geoffrey P. Alpert, The Dilemmas of Punishment: Readings in contemporary corrections. From the entry propositioner
Trump’s statement came as the Pentagon and Anthropic were continuing to negotiate a compromise despite an escalating war of words.2026 February 27, Julian E. Barnes, Sheera Frenkel, “Trump Orders U.S. Agencies to Stop Using Anthropic AI Tech After Pentagon Standoff”…. From the entry war of words
“Even under a variety of policies, including plastic product reduction, waste management, and environmental recycling, microplastic pollution is irreversible and escalating.”2024 December 17, Lex Harvey, “Microplastics are choking our waters. Could a sponge made of squid bones help remove them?”, in CNN…. From the entry irreversible
The W.H.O.’s decision this time was prompted by an escalating crisis of mpox concentrated in the Democratic Republic of Congo.2024 August 15, Apoorva Mandavilli, “How Did Mpox Become a Global Emergency? What’s Next?”, in The New York Times, →ISSN. From the entry mpox
Disagreements about priorities escalated when Cassandra became engaged and pregnant.2024, Stephanie M. Breen, Jesse McCain, Josipa Roksa, “Breaking points: exploring how negative doctoral advisor relationships develop over…. From the entry master out
Without providing evidence, Shoigu said Ukraine could escalate by using a “dirty bomb” – conventional explosives laced with radioactive material.2022 October 24, Peter Beaumont, “Ukraine war heading for ‘uncontrolled escalation’, says Russia”, in The Guardian. From the entry dirty bomb
That's because halfway through the Great Western Electrification Programme, ministers suddenly got cold feet as the cost escalated.2020 July 12, Christian Wolmar, “Cab ride reveals the pluses and minuses of Oxford route”, in RAIL, number 987, page 44. From the entry get cold feet
The war has begun, confrontations are escalating across the region, and all his men own are old Mausers.2019, Maaza Mengiste, The Shadow King, Canongate Books (2020), page 101. From the entry Mauser
Smokers aren’t surprised at the escalating price, reminiscing about recent months gone by when a loosie cost only 25 cents.2008 June 15, Barry Paddock, Kristen Brown, Stephanie Gaskell, “Loosies’ lousy tax price hike: Cig costs a drag, but may force smokers to…. From the entry loosie
Snipers do this to avoid bidding wars that escalate the bids to more than they want to pay.2007, Entrepreneur Press, Start Your Own Business on eBay: Your Step-By-Step Guide to Success, Entrepreneur Press, →ISBN, page 64. From the entry snipe
He claims that if someone starts with bugs they'll end up escalating to human babies in no time.2000, Katharine Gates, Deviant Desires: Incredibly Strange Sex, page 137. From the entry crush
Tempers would escalate, lines would be drawn, and this budding romance would turn into some Romeo-and-Julietesque grand passion.1998, Bernhardt, William, 1960-, Naked justice, page 56. From the entry Romeo-and-Julietesque
On outlying islands controlled by Taiwan, people started evacuating homes in case the missile tests escalate into something nastier.1996 March 9, Ian Johnson, “Taiwan tries to stand tall But residents rush to secure property; some prepare to flee”, in The Baltimore Sun…. From the entry Tungchu
A normally bustling border crossing between Tanzania and Malawi was noticeably quieter than usual on Thursday as a result of an escalating regional trade row.2025 April 24, Sammi Awami, “Tanzania bans South Africa and Malawi imports as trade row escalates”, in BBC, archived from the original on…. From the entry Tanzania
The study has raised alarm over soaring antimicrobial resistance in India, describing it as a rapidly escalating superbug crisis and a “global threat”.2025 November 19, Bindu Shajan Perappadan, “India's drug-resistant infection rates lower than U.S., Europe despite higher microbial…. From the entry MDRO

Meaning of escalate

verb To increase (something) in extent or intensity; to intensify or step up.
verb In technical support, to transfer a customer, a problem, etc. to the next higher level of authority.
verb To climb.

Full definition of escalate

Questions about escalate in a sentence

How do you use escalate in a sentence?: Escalate is used as a verb. For example: “Violence escalated during the election.”
What is a short sentence with escalate?: “Violence escalated during the election.”
What does escalate mean?: Escalate means to increase (something) in extent or intensity; to intensify or step up.

Adapted from Wiktionary: escalate (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this page: “How to use escalate in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/escalate. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.