escalate

/ˈeskəleɪt/ (bre, ipa) · /ˈeskəleɪt/ (ame, ipa) · /ˈe-skə-ˌlāt nonstandard -skyə-/ (ame, mw)

escalate — verb

  • escalatepresent simple I / you / we / they
  • escalateshe / she / it
  • escalatedpast simple
  • escalating-ing form

1. to increase in seriousness, intensity, or scope — for example, a disagreement tu

1.動詞及物 / 不及物B2
釋義

to increase in seriousness, intensity, or scope — for example, a disagreement turning into a heated argument, or rising costs putting an organisation under financial strain.

例句

Tensions along the border escalated after several soldiers were injured during a patrol.

intransitive: tensions escalate after an event

Adisa escalated the dispute by involving the legal team without informing his supervisor first.

transitive: escalate + a situation

同義詞
  • intensify

    focuses on degree or strength increasing; broader in use (effort, emotion, colour)

  • worsen

    carries a clearly negative judgment, implying things were already bad

  • heighten

    suggests raising above a normal level; common with awareness, tension, senses

  • accelerate

    focuses on speed of increase rather than degree or seriousness

反義詞
  • de-escalate

    to reduce the intensity or seriousness of a situation

  • lessen

    to become or make something smaller in degree or severity

文法句型

escalate (no object) — prices escalated quickly

escalate + object — the company escalated security measures

escalate + into + more serious state — the dispute escalated into a fight

escalate + from + mild state + to + severe state — symptoms escalated from mild to severe

用法筆記

Often used with the prepositions into (specifying the resulting state) and from...to (specifying a progression). The intransitive form is more common when describing situations that grow more serious on their own.

常見錯誤

❌The situation escalated very fastly.
✅The situation escalated very quickly.
💡fastly is not a standard adverb; use quickly or rapidly.
❌Prices escalated highly.
✅Prices escalated sharply/dramatically.
💡highly does not naturally collocate with escalate; use sharply or dramatically.

2. to pass a problem, complaint, or difficult decision to a person at a higher leve

2.動詞及物B2
釋義

to pass a problem, complaint, or difficult decision to a person at a higher level of authority who can resolve it.

例句

After the customer refused the first offer, Dahlia escalated the complaint to her manager.

escalate + complaint + to + a higher authority

The technician escalated the server outage to the IT director for immediate action.

同義詞
  • refer

    more neutral; means to send a matter to another person or body for action

  • forward

    suggests passing along information or a request; less formal

  • pass up

    informal phrasal verb; common in spoken workplace English

文法句型

escalate + issue/problem + to + someone — escalate the complaint to a manager

escalate + matter + to + department/role — escalate the case to the legal team

用法筆記

Almost always used transitively — you escalate something (an issue, complaint, or problem) to a superior. Rarely used in intransitive form. Common in customer service, healthcare, and corporate environments.

常見錯誤

❌I escalated to the manager.
✅I escalated the issue to the manager.
💡In this sense, escalate requires a direct object specifying the matter being passed upward.