encarecieron
Encarecieron is the third-person plural preterite indicative form of the Spanish verb "encarecer." The verb "encarecer" generally translates to "to make more expensive" or "to raise the price of." Therefore, "encarecieron" describes an action that occurred in the past where a group of people or things caused something to become more expensive.
For instance, in an economic context, one might say "Los comerciantes encarecieron los productos básicos" which