I. ˈeskəˌlād.ə(r), -ātə-, ÷-kyə- noun
( -s )
Etymology: from Escalator, a trademark
1. : moving staircase
2. : a course, means, or agency that carries upward or downward especially through a series of stages and usually effortlessly
promised them a place on a never-stopping escalator of economic progress — D.W.Brogan
rode the escalator right behind him — first to the governorship of his native Veracruz, then to the Ministry of Interior — Time
man had at last found an escalator to heaven … had put his foot on the first tread, and time would take care of the rest — Social Welfare Forum
3. : an escalator clause or provision
many American workers won wage advances, cost-of-living wage escalators, various fringe benefits, and strengthening of union security through collective bargaining — Americana Annual
enough to tilt the index into a new high bracket and give a million auto-industry workers a cent-an-hour pay increase under the terms of their escalator — J.A.Loftus
II. adjective
1. : providing for escalation — used especially of labor contracts or provisions contained in them
steelworkers whose escalator contracts adjust wages to the government's consumer price index — Newsweek
the introduction of an escalator arrangement tying the base pay of servicemen to living costs and adjustable at one to two-year intervals — New York Times
2. : providing for periodic and automatic proportionate adjustment similar to escalation
asked for escalator clauses which would enlarge the amount of the loan as prices go up — Newsweek
an escalator plan for state colleges under which one grade will be desegregated each year — Eric Sevareid