How to Use de-escalate in a Sentence

de-escalate

verb
  • Many world leaders called for the US to de-escalate; a few condemned the strikes.
    — Kim Hjelmgaard, USA Today, 22 June 2025
  • To de-escalate, Wesley offered to buy the man and the younger woman a beer and talk things over.
    — Zach Helfand, The New Yorker, 10 Mar. 2025
  • To de-escalate, Wesley offered to buy the man and the younger woman a beer and talk things over.
    — Zach Helfand, The New Yorker, 10 Mar. 2025
  • And so the work to de-escalate is work that is ongoing.
    — Jake Sheridan, Chicago Tribune, 12 May 2024
  • All the while, the White House insists Israel and Hezbollah still have time to step back and de-escalate.
    — Aamer Madhani, Los Angeles Times, 24 Sep. 2024
  • The attack was the biggest since March 2020, when Russia and Turkey agreed to a deal to de-escalate the conflict.
    — Maya Gebeily, USA TODAY, 29 Nov. 2024
  • Feeling heard helps them de-escalate the anger of defending a point of view.
    — Ann Kowal Smith, Forbes, 12 Oct. 2024
  • Feeling heard helps them de-escalate the anger of defending a point of view.
    — Ann Kowal Smith, Forbes, 13 Nov. 2023
  • And the Sheriff's deputies de-escalated that and broke that down very quickly.
    — Taylor Wilson, USA TODAY, 25 Aug. 2023
  • Both nations have huge incentives to work out a deal that could at least de-escalate the trade war.
    — Bob Davis, Time, 12 Apr. 2025
  • World leaders made urgent calls to de-escalate and avoid all-out war.
    — Jon Gambrell, Los Angeles Times, 14 June 2025
  • Unless the trade war de-escalates in the next few weeks, the firewall will come down, and a recession will ensue.
    — Giulia Carbonaro, MSNBC Newsweek, 21 May 2025
  • At the same time, there's rising optimism that the U.S. could de-escalate some of the tensions with China.
    — Scott Horsley, NPR, 23 Apr. 2025
  • But when at least one party is willing to wreck things, attempts to de-escalate fail.
    — Michael S. Roth, Time, 28 Mar. 2025
  • Bunge argued that the two men failed to de-escalate the situation.
    — Kiara Alfonseca, ABC News, 5 Jan. 2024
  • One is to ignore it, another is to respond and try to de-escalate.
    — Peter Suciu, Forbes.com, 21 May 2025
  • Jones added that the situation could not have de-escalated when a weapon was drawn by the driver.
    — Nicole Lopez, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 14 Feb. 2024
  • Wood told the council that the U.S. aims to de-escalate the situation but that Iran's actions cannot go unanswered.
    — NBC News, 15 Apr. 2024
  • Steve is one of the first men to step in, sensing that things are spiraling, as the ladies scramble to de-escalate the situation.
    — Shelby Stewart, Essence, 18 Feb. 2025
  • When faced with the risk of a spiraling conflict, rivals often find off-ramps to de-escalate crises.
    — Erik Lin-Greenberg, Foreign Affairs, 8 Oct. 2024
  • The police attempted to de-escalate the scene by first ordering him to drop his lethal weapon, then employing a taser and the threat of a police dog.
    — U T Opinion, San Diego Union-Tribune, 11 Feb. 2025
  • The officers were aggressive from the start and did not attempt to de-escalate the situation, the suit claims.
    — Alex Riggins, San Diego Union-Tribune, 23 Mar. 2023
  • Riri tries to de-escalate the situation, which might have worked if Natalie didn’t start to glitch.
    — Stacia Brown, Vulture, 26 June 2025
  • Starmer said in his own statement that he was deeply concerned by the situation in the region and called on all parties to de-escalate.
    — Greg Norman, Fox News, 13 Aug. 2024
  • As Carson tried to de-escalate the situation, the suspect swung a knife at him, Kenny said.
    — Meredith Deliso, ABC News, 4 Oct. 2023
  • Blinken stressed the need to de-escalate tensions in the West Bank and expressed his sympathies for Thursday's attack in Jerusalem that killed three civilians.
    — Vivian Salama, WSJ, 30 Nov. 2023
  • The move is part of the rebels' ongoing effort to de-escalate tensions following a ceasefire in Gaza.
    — Gordon G. Chang, Newsweek, 25 Jan. 2025
  • Marcello tries to de-escalate the confrontation while Lenù looks on, scared.
    — Rafaela Bassili, Vulture, 28 Oct. 2024
  • But the official said the parties also discussed how to de-escalate the fighting in the more likely scenario at the moment of no Gaza ceasefire deal in the near term.
    — Barak Ravid, Axios, 4 Sep. 2024
  • Neither side would de-escalate, but neither side seemed willing to take everyone over the brink.
    — Elliot Ackerman, WIRED, 12 Feb. 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'de-escalate.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Last Updated: