escalade

[es-kuh-leyd, -lahd, es-kuh-leyd, -lahd]

See more synonyms for escalade on Thesaurus.com

noun

a scaling or mounting by means of ladders, especially in an assault upon a fortified place.

verb (used with object), es·ca·lad·ed, es·ca·lad·ing.

to mount, pass, or enter by means of ladders.

Origin of escalade

1590–1600; < Middle French < Old Provençal *escalada, equivalent to escal(ar) to scale³ + -ada -ade¹

Related formses·ca·lad·er, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for escalade

escalate, rise, soar, arise, mount, scale, top, ascend, clamber, back, up, lift, vault, tower, bestride, escalade, surmount

Examples from the Web for escalade

Contemporary Examples of escalade

In that scene, would they really drive around in an Escalade?
‘Homeland’: Showtime’s Thriller Gets Fact Checked by an Intelligence Expert
Samantha Zalaznick
October 29, 2012
I mean, he bought her an Escalade, but she still had to make the payments.
Secret Code of Sports Mistresses
Lisa DePaulo
July 13, 2009
For Oprah, that might mean a cookie instead of a whole cake; for the rest of us, perhaps a movie instead of an Escalade.
The Great Binge
Jessi Klein
December 11, 2008

Historical Examples of escalade

This body then made their way through the suburbs, to escalade the city walls.
Our Sailors
W.H.G. Kingston
And with his clubbed rifle he killed an Apache who was trying to escalade the hut.
The Pirates of the Prairies
Gustave Aimard
I do not think that the gavachos will ever venture to attempt an escalade.
The Buccaneer Chief
Gustave Aimard
He seems fitted for the race and the escalade rather than for the struggle.
The Desert World
Arthur Mangin
The tte-du-pont, a strong fortification, was taken by escalade.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 64, No. 397, November 1848
Various

British Dictionary definitions for escalade

escalade

noun

an assault by the use of ladders, esp on a fortification

verb

to gain access to (a place) by the use of ladders

Derived Formsescalader, noun

Word Origin for escalade

C16: from French, from Italian scalata, from scalare to mount, scale ³

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for escalade

1590s, "action of using ladders to scale the walls of a fortified place," from Middle French escalade (16c.) "an assault with ladders on a fortification," from Italian scalata, fem. past participle of scalare "to climb by means of a ladder," from scala "ladder," related to Latin scandere "to climb" (see scan). For initial e-, see especial.