climax

noun climaxes · climaces

1. countable, uncountable A rhetorical device in which a series is arranged in ascending order. Ye haue a figure which as well by his Greeke and Latine originals […] may be called the marching figure […] and goeth as it were by ſtrides or paces; it may aſwell by called the clyming figure, for Clymax is as much to ſay as a ladder,[…]

   Similar: incrementum

2. countable, obsolete, uncountable An instance of such an ascending series. […]Expressions for the whole Climax of sensibility[…]
3. countable, uncountable The culmination of a narrative's rising action, the turning point. As a trafficker in climaxes and thrills and characterization and wonderful dialogue and suspense and confrontations, I had outlined the Dresden story many times.

   Similar: payoff

4. countable, often, uncountable A culmination or acme: the last term in an ascending series, particularly In the accomplishment of this, they frequently reach the climax of absurdity.
5. countable, often, rhetoric, uncountable The final term of a rhetorical climax. When he adds epithets of praise, his climax is ‘so English’.
6. countable, often, uncountable A relatively stable community of organisms, resulting from ecological succession, a successful adaptation to a relatively stable environment. Near-synonyms: old-growth, mature ecosystem

   Similar: old-growth, mature ecosystem

7. countable, euphemistic, often, uncountable The culmination of sexual pleasure, an orgasm. In many cases the man's climax comes so swiftly that the woman's reactions are not nearly ready.

Similar: auxesis, catacosmesis, apex · Opposite: catacosmesis

verb climaxes · climaxing · climaxed

1. ambitransitive To reach or bring to a climax (in any sense). All our memories are burning in time / Like a bittersweet perfume / Can you tell me how a love that's so fine / Could have climaxed in a single afternoon?
2. transitive To form the climax to; to be the climax of. A group of about 50 people, mostly young adults and teenagers, charged into a city park where gay people were having a swimming party on June 8. Gay people were attacked, climaxing a year in which this conservative Ohio city [Cincinnati] has become aware of its gay population.

adjective more climax · most climax

1. Being a climax species or climax community of organisms; able to remain essentially unchanged (in terms of the portion of the species in its area it constitutes) as long as its site remains unchanged. [The] tree which here is "more pioneer" and the one which is "more climax" do not differ from each other by this vegetational character alone. Most of the tree species which are "more pioneer" are conifers, those which are "more climax" are hardwoods.

proper noun

1. A village in the Rural Municipality of Lone Tree No. 18, Saskatchewan, Canada.
2. An unincorporated community and mining location in Lake County, Colorado.
3. A small town in Decatur County, Georgia.
4. A minor city in Greenwood County, Kansas.
5. An unincorporated community in Rockcastle County, Kentucky.
6. A village and township in Kalamazoo County, Michigan.
7. A minor city in Polk County, Minnesota.
8. A hamlet in Greene County, New York.
9. An unincorporated community in Guilford County and Randolph County, North Carolina.
10. An unincorporated community in Morrow County, Ohio.
11. An unincorporated community in Jackson County, Oregon.
12. An unincorporated community in Armstrong County, Pennsylvania.
13. An unincorporated community in Collin County, Texas.
14. An unincorporated community in Pittsylvania County, Virginia.