Standard Lemma guide

escalade

noun · verb · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˌɛskəˈleɪd/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • US: /ˈɛskəˌleɪd/
  • US: /ˈɛskəˌlɑd/
  • rhymes with -eɪd
  • CMU ARPABET: EH2 S K AH0 L AA1 D Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

An act of scaling walls or fortifications.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • An escalade was required for the warriors to attack the troops.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: scalade

Antonyms: none provided

2

verb

Meaning 2

To scale the walls of a fortification.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: dated

Topics: government, military, politics, war

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

an act of scaling by the use of ladders (especially the walls of a fortification)

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: scaling

4

verb

Meaning 4

climb up and over

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • They had to escalade canyons to reach their destination

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: climb, climb up, mount, go up

History

Etymology

Borrowed from French escalade, from Italian scalata, from scalare (“to climb”), from scala (“ladder”), from Latin scālae (“ladder”). Doublet of scalade.

Across languages

Translations

4 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • French: escalader — to scale the walls of a fortification
  • Luxembourgish: eskaladéieren — to scale the walls of a fortification
  • Polish: wspinać się — to scale the walls of a fortification
  • Romanian: escalada — to scale the walls of a fortification