Link Centre Dictionary

escalator

es·ca·la·tor

UK/ˈɛs.kə.leɪ.tə/ US/ˈɛs.kə.leɪ.tɚ/ uncommon informal

noun

1.

a clause in a contract that provides for an increase or a decrease in wages or prices or benefits etc. depending on certain conditions (as a change in the cost of living index)

Synonyms
2.

Origin

By genericization from the former trademark Escalator, created by American inventor Charles Seeberger in 1900, from Latin ē- (“from, out of”) + scala (“ladder”) + -tor, which forms nouns of agency; see the appendix. Broader usage may be influenced by its derivative escalate, by surface analysis, escalate + -or. For an alternative etymology, see the Online Etymology Dictionary.

Phrases

  • escalator barrel
  • escalator clause
  • escalator school

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.