apex
noun/ˈeɪ.pɛks/
Etymology Borrowed from Latin apex (“point, tip, summit”).
17 senses
- 1The highest or the greatest part of something…
- 2The highest point in a plane or solid figure, relative…
- 3The lowest part of the human heart.
- 4The deepest part of a tooth's root.
- 5The end of a leaf, petal or similar organ opposed to the…
- 6The growing point of a shoot.
- 7The point on the celestial sphere toward which the Sun…
- 8The lowest point on a pendant drop of a liquid.
- 9The end or edge of a vein nearest the surface.
- 10A diacritic in Classical Latin that resembles and gave…
- 11A diacritic in Middle Vietnamese that indicates /ŋ͡m/.
- 12A sharp upward point formed by two strokes that meet at…
- 13The part of a corner where the racing line is nearest…
- 14An obstacle for a horse to jump over, consisting of a…
- 15The moment of greatest success, expansion, etc.
- 16The top of the food chain.
- 17A conical priest cap.
The highest or the greatest part of something, especially forming a point.
- the apex of the building
- Drone cameras show that his car reached the apex first.
Geometry, Mathematics, Sciences The highest point in a plane or solid figure, relative to a base line or plane.
› The highest or the greatest part of… › The pointed fine end of something.
- B.P. 118/68. Grade I diastolic murmur best heard over apex. Patient well and had no complaints referable to heart. Origin of the diastolic murmur is open to conjecture.1951 March, J. H. Lehmann, A. D. Johnson, W. C. Bridges, J. Michel, D. M. Green, “Cardiac Catheterization—A Diagnostic Aid in Congenital Heart Disease”, in Northwest Medicine, volume 50, number 3, Portland, Ore.: Northwest Medical Publishing Association, page 175:
› The highest or the greatest part of…
Astronomy, Natural sciences The point on the celestial sphere toward which the Sun appears to move relative to nearby stars.
Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Physics The lowest point on a pendant drop of a liquid.
Media, Publishing, Typography A diacritic in Classical Latin that resembles and gave rise to the acute.
Media, Publishing, Typography A diacritic in Middle Vietnamese that indicates /ŋ͡m/.
Media, Publishing, Typography A sharp upward point formed by two strokes that meet at an acute angle, as in "W", uppercase "A", and closed-top "4", or by a tapered stroke, as in lowercase "t".
Hobbies, Lifestyle, Motor racing, Racing, Sports The part of a corner where the racing line is nearest the inside of the bend.
An obstacle for a horse to jump over, consisting of a triangular corner fence.
Figuratively The moment of greatest success, expansion, etc.
- the apex of civilization
- It would be an intense disgust. The absolute apex of teen angst.2002, Jeffrey Rowland, “Day 2 (The Slagathors)”, in Wigu Adventures, page 58:
1 more example
- The pattern has repeated itself more times than you can fathom. Organic civilizations rise, evolve, advance. And at the apex of their glory, they are extinguished.2008, BioWare, Mass Effect (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Virmire:
A conical priest cap.
- Synonyms
25 terms
acme, apex, zenith, apogee, apotheosis, ascendance, capstone, climax, coronation, crown, culmination, extreme, fastigium, high note, high point, high tide, high-water mark, midday, Mount Everest, outblossom, paroxysm, perihelion, pinnacle, summa, summit- Antonyms
- bathos, lowest ebb, nadir, slough of despond, trough
- Derived terms
- antapex, apexcardiogram, apexcardiography, apex court, apexed, apex fallacy, apexification, apex predator, base over apex, orbital apex syndrome, periapex, subapex
- Related terms
- apical, mother of all
- Hypernyms
- moment