{
  "id": "arms-race.escalation",
  "term": "arms race",
  "sense": "escalation",
  "pos": "noun",
  "status": "review",
  "level": 17,
  "domain": "collective outcome nobody chose",
  "style": "folk",
  "definition": "A sequence of moves where each side responds to the other's increase with one of its own, so the parameter rises without either side choosing the final level.",
  "folk_gloss": "A situation where two sides keep trying to outdo each other in some way.",
  "emergence": {
    "components": [
      "parameter.condition",
      "drift.aimless",
      "interaction.process",
      "state-of-the-art.frontier"
    ],
    "interaction": "interaction.process",
    "novel_properties": [
      "collective outcome nobody chose"
    ]
  },
  "examples": [],
  "relations": [],
  "used_by": [],
  "forms": [
    "arms race"
  ],
  "closed": false,
  "provenance": {
    "author": "phrases:qwen/qwen3-235b-a22b-2507",
    "date": "2026-07-29",
    "confidence": 0.7,
    "sources": [
      "folk phrase — collective outcome nobody chose"
    ]
  },
  "canonical": "https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-arms-race.escalation"
}