Definition of "escalate" []

• To increase, enlarge, or intensify: escalated the hostilities in the Persian Gulf. (verb-transitive)
• To increase in intensity or extent: "a deepening long-term impasse that is certain to escalate” ( Stewart L. Udall). (verb-intransitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The term escalate became popular during the Vietnam War and refers to the United States' significantly increasing its involvement, but the term also carries an undertone of blunder."
• "Among an estimated eight Republicans who've publicly said they, too, oppose the president's plan, several told CNN the word escalate in the resolution was a red flag they would not be able to support."
• "As things escalate from the merely unacceptable to the downright outrageous, however, Andrea begins to realize that the job a million girls would die for may just kill her."