escalator
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escalator
- /ˈɛs.kə.leɪ.tə/ UK
- /ˈɛs.kə.leɪ.tɚ/ US
Rhymes with -eɪtə(ɹ)
Where it comes from
By genericization from the former trademark Escalator, created by American inventor Charles Seeberger in 1900, from Latin ē- (“from, out of”) + scala (“ladder”) + -tor, which forms nouns of agency; see the appendix. Broader usage may be influenced by its derivative escalate, by surface analysis, escalate + -or. For an alternative etymology, see the Online Etymology Dictionary.
noun escalators
- Anything that escalates. Fourth, communication researchers study the role of stress and negative attitudes as key contributors to conflict, anger as an escalator of conflict, and emotional residues as barriers to reconciliation.
-
A motor-driven mechanical device consisting of a continuous loop of steps that automatically conveys people from one floor to another.
There is a plastic molly-guard covering the escalator's shutdown button to prevent little kids from pushing it and stopping the escalator.
Similar: moving staircase
- An upward or progressive course. Lots of people fell for the pitch that real estate was an up-only escalator into the American Dream
- An escalator clause. They agreed to a cost-of-living escalator.
verb escalators · escalatoring · escalatored
-
To move by escalator.
We escalatored to the second floor.
Similar: escalate
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: moving staircase, moving stairway, elevator, lift, progression, stair, staircase, stairwell, stairway, ladder, lifts, crescendo, elevatorful, accelerando, ante-upping, increment
Translations
Every language
noun mechanical device
| Español | escalera mecánica, escalera rodante |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 에스컬레이터 eseukeolleiteo |
| 日本語 | エスカレーター esukarētā |
| 中文 | 自動扶梯 /自动扶梯 zìdòngfútī, 電動扶梯 /电动扶梯 diàndòng fútī, 自動電梯 /自动电梯 zìdòngdiàntī, 自動樓梯 /自动楼梯 zìdònglóutī, 自動鏈梯 /自动链梯 zìdòngliàntī, 升降階梯 /升降阶梯 shēngjiàngjiētī |
| हिन्दी | एस्केलेटर eskeleṭar, चलसोपान calsopān, चलती सीढ़ी caltī sīṛhī |
| Português | escada rolante |
| Français | escalator, escalier mécanique, escalateur |
| Deutsch | Rolltreppe, Fahrtreppe |
| Italiano | scala mobile |
| Ελληνικά | κυλιόμενες σκάλες kyliómenes skáles |
| Română | scară rulantă |
| Русский | эскала́тор eskalátor |
| Tiếng Việt | thang cuốn |
| العربية | دَرَج مُتَحَرِّك daraj mutaḥarrik, سُلَّم مُتَحَرِّك sullam mutaḥarrik, سُلَّم دَوَّار sullam dawwār |
| עברית | דְּרַגְנוֹעַ dragnóa |
Talk about this word "escalator." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/escalator. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. escalator. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/escalator "escalator." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/escalator.Cite this
@misc{escalator_2026,
title = {escalator},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/escalator},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
