ESCALA'DE, noun [Latin scala, a ladder. See Scale.] In the military art, a furious attack made by troops on a fortified place, in which ladders are used to pass a ditch or mount a rampart. Sin enters, not by escalade but by cunning or treachery. ESCALA'DE, verb transitive To scale; to mount and pass or enter by means of ladders; as, to escalade a wall.
Source: Webster's 1828 American Dictionary ↗ · public-domain · returned verbatim, no AI