escalation

/ˌɛskəˈleɪʃən/
noun
  1. An increase in intensity, extent, or seriousness, especially of a conflict or problem.
    • The manager called a meeting to discuss the escalation of customer complaints.
    • The escalation of the trade war hurt businesses in both countries.
    • We hope to avoid any further escalation of violence in the region.
  2. The process of referring a problem or issue to a higher level of authority for resolution.
    • After three failed attempts to fix the bug, the technician requested an escalation to the engineering team.
    • Our company has a clear escalation procedure for handling serious technical issues.
    • The customer demanded an escalation to the supervisor after the first representative could not help.