How to Use de-escalate in a Sentence

de-escalate

verb
  • 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
  • Bunge argued that the two men failed to de-escalate the situation.
    — Kiara Alfonseca, ABC News, 5 Jan. 2024
  • 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
  • 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
  • Why had the officers not tried to de-escalate the situation?
    — Tim Arango, New York Times, 8 June 2023
  • For months, that response never came and tensions appeared to de-escalate given the grave consequences of an all-out war in the Middle East.
    — Helen Regan, CNN, 2 Oct. 2024
  • As the dispute grew heated, the deli worker stepped between his feuding customers in an effort to de-escalate the fight, only for the suspect to spit in the victim’s face.
    — Thomas Tracy, New York Daily News, 3 Jan. 2025
  • In the process, a policy intended to de-escalate will serve only to appease.
    — Foreign Affairs, 20 Feb. 2024
  • The witnesses added that Sibley tried to de-escalate the situation before he was stabbed in the torso.
    — Matt Lavietes, NBC News, 2 Aug. 2023
  • Without guardrails, red lines or a strategy to de-escalate, further conflict remains in the cards.
    — Tracy Wilkinson, Los Angeles Times, 26 Oct. 2024
  • The delay might indicate that Mexico still hopes to de-escalate Trump's trade war.
    — Democrat-Gazette Staff and Wire Reports, arkansasonline.com, 5 Mar. 2025
  • After around an hour of trying to shake the paparazzi, the Sussexes arrived at the 19th precinct on East 67th street, waiting for the situation to de-escalate.
    — Town & Country, 18 May 2023
  • Trump told the conservative publication that the two leaders have engaged in multiple discussions over the past weeks, focusing on strategies to de-escalate the conflict in Ukraine.
    — Hannah Parry, Newsweek, 19 Mar. 2025

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.

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