de-es·ca·late or de·es·ca·late  (d ē- ĕs k ə-l āt ′)
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v. de-es·ca·lat·ed, de-es·ca·lat·ing, de-es·ca·lates or de·es·ca·lat·ed or de·es·ca·lat·ing or de·es·ca·lates v.tr. To decrease the size, scope, or intensity of (a war, for example). v.intr. To decrease or diminish in size, scope, or intensity: The birth rate has begun to de-escalate.
de-es′ca·lation n. de-esca·la·tor′y (-lə-tôr′ē) adj. |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2020 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices
Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:
Indo-European Roots
Semitic Roots
The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.
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