escalator

American  

[es-kuh-ley-ter] / ˈɛs kəˌleɪ tər /

noun

escalators plural

1. a continuously moving staircase on an endless loop for carrying passengers up or down.

2. a means of rising or descending, increasing or decreasing, etc., especially by stages.

   the social escalator.

3. escalator clause.

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adjective

1. of, relating to, or included in an escalator clause.

   The union demands escalator protection of wages.

escalator British  

/ ˈɛskəˌleɪtə /

noun

1. a moving staircase consisting of stair treads fixed to a conveyor belt, for transporting passengers between levels, esp between the floors of a building

2. short for escalator clause

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• escalators
  plural

Etymology

Origin of escalator

An Americanism first recorded in 1895–1900; formerly a trademark; perhaps escal(ade) + (elev)ator

Explanation

An escalator is a motorized stairway that moves people up and down flights. When you get on an escalator, you can stand still and let it carry you. If you want to really annoy the people behind you, stand to the left on the escalator and block their passage. It's common for shopping malls, airports, and other large, public buildings to provide escalators as a way for people to get from one floor to another. An escalator works by moving a large belt of linked steps with a motor — each step seems to disappear as it moves parallel with the floor at your destination. In 1900, the Otis Elevator Company coined the word escalator, from escalade, "use ladders to scale a wall."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

escalator escalators

When he announced his run for president in 2015, dramatically diverting the course of the American project, it was after a ride down a gold-mirrored escalator.

From Slate ● Jun. 11, 2026

Lovell is an escalator engineer from Hertfordshire and works for a company that has been responsible for installing, maintaining and upgrading the escalators at the national stadium.

From BBC ● May 16, 2026

Or sadly, the next platform will be designed elsewhere, and we kill the next great societal escalator ride up.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 3, 2026

Guests were required to flash their tickets to go down an escalator to the ballroom level, then present the ticket before walking through metal detectors and having bags searched ahead of the ballroom entrance.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 26, 2026

We take the escalator up, following Charlie’s lead.

From "Marcus Vega Doesn't Speak Spanish" by Pablo Cartaya

According to other attendees, including Times journalists, event staff were checking tickets, though not very thoroughly, at multiple points prior to escalators that descended to the metal detectors where Allen allegedly dashed past armed security.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 26, 2026

Joyce Keenan, 71, from Westhill, said she thought escalators would have been installed "years ago".

From BBC ● Apr. 17, 2026

Kaner and Pena both said that a typical, 15,000-square-foot store without elevators or escalators costs under $10 million to build.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 16, 2026

Napoli recently served as Chairman and CEO of Schindler Group, a Swiss maker of elevators and escalators.

From Barron's ● Apr. 14, 2026

Once there, we rode the escalators up and down, spent our money on gourmet popcorn from Garrett’s, and commandeered tables at McDonald’s for more hours than was reasonable, given how little food we ordered.

From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama