escalates

verb

present tense third-person singular of escalate
1
as in increases
to become greater in extent, volume, amount, or number as the war between the two countries escalated, it threatened to become a global conflict

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in accelerates
to make greater in size, amount, or number the president promised to escalate the government's program to combat the dreaded disease

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of escalates Whenever offered a chance for rapprochement, Dahlia escalates. — B. D. McClay, New Yorker, 19 Oct. 2026 The conflict between pragmatism and generosity begins at a small scale and incrementally escalates. — Kambole Campbell, Variety, 11 Oct. 2026 The finger-pointing escalates a long-standing argument between places led by Democrats and the federal government over federal immigration law – and who should help enforce it. — Sarah Matusek, Christian Science Monitor, 9 Oct. 2026 News conference escalates family of Secoriea Turner’s fight over Rick Jackson campaign ads. — Adam Beam, AJC.com, 6 Oct. 2026 The situation escalates as the mariachi music begins playing and the couple approach a display of white roses and candles laid out on the grass. — Clara Harter, Los Angeles Times, 5 Oct. 2026 If the abuse escalates to hands around the neck, the odds of being killed increases by 750%, the Journal of Emergency Medicine says. — Emily Shapiro, ABC News, 2 Oct. 2026 When murder escalates from a scheme to action, her secret becomes an unbearable burden to carry. — Literary Hub, 2 Oct. 2026 That information can then trigger a workflow that assigns the appropriate specialist, sets a deadline, monitors progress and escalates the issue when an exception occurs. — Michael Goshka, Forbes.com, 2 Oct. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for escalates
  1. increases
  2. accelerates
  3. rises
  4. expands
  5. swells
  6. boosts
  7. intensifies
  8. augments
Verb
  • Treating these as separate challenges increases cost and complexity over time.
    — Melissa Hancock, Fortune, 21 Oct. 2026
  • As the bleak second law of thermodynamics states, entropy always increases over time in a closed system.
    — Maia Szalavitz, Scientific American, 20 Oct. 2026
Definition of increases
Verb
  • But as the buildout accelerates, its physical costs are becoming harder to ignore.
    — Luke Fountain, CNBC, 24 Oct. 2026
  • The green light comes as the Pentagon accelerates efforts to field reliable, portable nuclear power on Earth and in orbit.
    — Aman Tripathi, Interesting Engineering, 24 Oct. 2026
Definition of accelerates
Verb
  • Pay that rises with credentials, a clear schedule and predictable work can do more for retention than a signing bonus.
    — Alok Chanani, Forbes.com, 26 Oct. 2026
  • Step up to the more powerful rear-drive model and output rises to 282 hp, with a larger 77-kWh battery.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 24 Oct. 2026
Definition of rises
Verb
  • This is becoming especially important as the AI economy expands.
    — H.E. Dr Abdulla Saif Al Jarwan, Fortune, 21 Oct. 2026
  • Larger aircraft expands capacity The 737-10 typically seats between 185 and 210 passengers in a two-class configuration, although its maximum seating capacity reaches 230.
    — Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 21 Oct. 2026
Definition of expands
Verb
  • Situated in the Blue Ridge Mountains, the population swells in the summer months.
    — Eva Flowe, Charlotte Observer, 23 Oct. 2026
  • The Seaglider is designed to handle ocean swells up to a meter and a half high.
    — IEEE Spectrum, IEEE Spectrum, 22 Oct. 2026
Definition of swells
Verb
  • That boosts the total number of essential workers to about 4,400.
    — Corey Schmidt, Sacbee.com, 20 Oct. 2026
  • Von Tobel pointed to businesses such as Hill House Home, founded by Nell Diamond, and beauty brand Saie, founded by Laney Crowell, as examples where a company’s growth is closely tied to founders whose personal influence boosts business growth.
    — Rhonda Richford, Footwear News, 20 Oct. 2026
Definition of boosts
Verb
  • The dispute unfolds as Russia intensifies attacks across Ukraine and as Kyiv presses Western allies for more interceptors, while new diplomatic efforts seek to end the war.
    — Derek Gatopoulos, Los Angeles Times, 25 Oct. 2026
  • If the war with Iran intensifies again, foreign executives will be reluctant to even visit Saudi Arabia, let alone invest in it.
    — Matthew Martin, semafor.com, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of intensifies
Verb
  • Enabling that mode augments the on-device scam detection first shipped in March 2025, adding cloud analysis run in Google’s Private AI Compute environment.
    — Rob Pegoraro, PC Magazine, 14 Oct. 2026
  • That the stakes are high only augments the thrill of unlocking their working equation.
    — Artforum, Artforum, 28 Sep. 2026
Definition of augments

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Cite this Entry

“Escalates.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/escalates. Accessed 27 Oct. 2026.

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