The action of scaling or climbing up walls or fortifications, especially during a military assault; to climb or scale.
From French 'escalade', from Italian 'scalata', from 'scala' (ladder). Military term from the 16th century describing siege warfare tactics using ladders to scale fortress walls.
This word preserves the terrifying drama of medieval warfare when battles were won by brave soldiers literally climbing enemy walls under fire. The modern luxury SUV name 'Escalade' ironically takes this word for scaling fortifications and applies it to scaling social status.
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