Search Result for "climax": 
Wordnet 3.0

NOUN (5)

1. the highest point of anything conceived of as growing or developing or unfolding;
- Example: "the climax of the artist's career"
- Example: "in the flood tide of his success"
[syn: climax, flood tide]

2. the decisive moment in a novel or play;
- Example: "the deathbed scene is the climax of the play"
[syn: climax, culmination]

3. the moment of most intense pleasure in sexual intercourse;
[syn: orgasm, climax, sexual climax, coming]

4. the most severe stage of a disease;

5. arrangement of clauses in ascending order of forcefulness;


VERB (1)

1. end, especially to reach a final or climactic stage;
- Example: "The meeting culminated in a tearful embrace"
[syn: culminate, climax]



The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Climax \Cli"max\, n. [L., from Gr. ? ladder, staircase, fr. ? to
   make to bend, to lean. See Ladder, Lean, v. i.]
   1. Upward movement; steady increase; gradation; ascent.
      --Glanvill.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. (Rhet.) A figure in which the parts of a sentence or
      paragraph are so arranged that each succeeding one rises
      above its predecessor in impressiveness.
      [1913 Webster]

            "Tribulation worketh patience, patience experience,
            and experience hope" -- a happy climax. --J. D.
                                                  Forbes.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. The highest point; the greatest degree.
      [1913 Webster]

            We must look higher for the climax of earthly good.
                                                  --I. Taylor.
      [1913 Webster]

   To cap the climax, to surpass everything, as in excellence
      or in absurdity. [Colloq.]
      [1913 Webster]


WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

climax
    n 1: the highest point of anything conceived of as growing or
         developing or unfolding; "the climax of the artist's
         career"; "in the flood tide of his success" [syn: climax,
         flood tide]
    2: the decisive moment in a novel or play; "the deathbed scene
       is the climax of the play" [syn: climax, culmination]
    3: the moment of most intense pleasure in sexual intercourse
       [syn: orgasm, climax, sexual climax, coming]
    4: the most severe stage of a disease
    5: arrangement of clauses in ascending order of forcefulness
    v 1: end, especially to reach a final or climactic stage; "The
         meeting culminated in a tearful embrace" [syn: culminate,
         climax]