climax

Noun · Verb
Synonyms: flood tideculminationorgasmsexual climaxcomingculminate

WordNet 3.0

Noun (5)

  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”Synonyms: flood tide
  2. the decisive moment in a novel or play“the deathbed scene is the climax of the play”Synonyms: culmination
  3. the moment of most intense pleasure in sexual intercourseSynonyms: orgasmsexual climaxcoming
  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“The meeting culminated in a tearful embrace”Synonyms: culminate
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Webster's Dictionary (GCIDE)

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]

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