climax

Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Jump to: navigation, search
See also clímax

Contents

English [edit]

Etymology [edit]

From Latin clīmax, from Ancient Greek κλῖμαξ (klimaks, a ladder, a staircase, a climax in rhetoric), from κλίνω (klinō, I lean, slant).

Pronunciation [edit]

Noun [edit]

climax (plural climaxes)

  1. The point of greatest intensity or force in an ascending series; a culmination
    • 1949, Bruce Kiskaddon, George R. Stewart, Earth Abides
      The snowshoe-rabbits build up through the years until they reach a climax when the seem to be everywhere; then with dramatic suddenness their pestilence falls upon them.
  2. The turning point in a plot or in dramatic action, especially one marking a change in the protagonist's affairs.
  3. A stage of ecological development in which a community of organisms, is stable and capable of perpetuating itself.
  4. (slang) An orgasm.
  5. (rhetoric): Ordering of terms in increasing order of importance or magnitude.
  6. (rhetoric): Anadiplosis.

Synonyms [edit]

Coordinate terms [edit]

Derived terms [edit]

Related terms [edit]

Translations [edit]

Verb [edit]

climax (third-person singular simple present climaxes, present participle climaxing, simple past and past participle climaxed)

  1. To reach or bring to a climax
    • 2012 May 31, Tasha Robinson, “Film: Review: Snow White And The Huntsman”:
      Huntsman starts out with a vision of Theron that’s specific, unique, and weighted in character, but it trends throughout toward generic fantasy tropes and black-and-white morality, and climaxes in a thoroughly familiar face-off.
  2. To orgasm; to reach orgasm

External links [edit]