climax

noun

1. 1

   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,[…]

   Climax, by steps advancing, onward goes Higher and still more high to an impassion'd close.

2. 2

   obsoleteAn instance of such an ascending series.

   […]Expressions for the whole Climax of sensibility[…]

3. 3

   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.

4. 4

   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. 5

   A culmination or acme: the last term in an ascending series The final term of a rhetorical climax.

   When he adds epithets of praise, his climax is ‘so English’.

6. 6

   A culmination or acme: the last term in an ascending series A relatively stable community of organisms, resulting from ecological succession, a successful adaptation to a relatively stable environment.

   Near-synonyms: old-growth, mature ecosystem

   The succession of associations leading to a climax represents the process of adjustment to the conditions of stress, and the climax represents a condition of relative equilibrium. Climax associations[…] are the resultants of certain climatic, geological[…] conditions.

7. 7

   A culmination or acme: the last term in an ascending series 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.

   What's the use of bringing some high schooler to climax?

verb

1. 1

   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?

   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.

   Frank had two bouts in October of 1954, losing them both, and then climaxed his career with a 6-round decision victory over Mickey Warner on December 1, 1954.

   I have never been able to climax during sex. Is my masturbation style to blame? [title]

2. 2

   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

1. 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.

   [page 412:] […] evidence that beech is more climax than hemlock in this area (Brown and Curtis 1952). [page 417:] beech in this area is as climax as sugar maple.

   Lodgepole pine is a good example. On poor sites such as the obsidian sands of Yellowstone Park it is climax. On nearby zonal soils it is seral to subalpine fir.

Forms

plural

climaxes, climaces

comparative

more climax

superlative

most climax

past tense

climaxed

past participle

climaxed

present participle

climaxing

third person singular

climaxes