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,[…]1589 June, George Puttenham, chapter 19, in Edward Arber, editor, The Arte of English Poesie, volume 3, London, published 1869, page 217:
Climax, by steps advancing, onward goes Higher and still more high to an impassion'd close.1835, L[arret] Langley, “[Rhetorical Figures.] Climax.”, in A Manual of the Figures of Rhetoric, […], Doncaster, South Yorkshire: […] C. White, […], →OCLC, page 26:
[…]Expressions for the whole Climax of sensibility[…]1781, John Moore, chapter VI, in A view of society and manners in Italy, volume I, page 63:
The Begums' ministers, on the contrary, to extort from them the disclosure of the place which concealed the treasures, were, […] after being fettered and imprisoned, led out on to a scaffold, and this array of terrours proving unavailing, the meek tempered Middleton, as a dernier resort, menaced them with a confinement in the fortress of Chunargar. Thus, my lords, was a British garrison made the climax of cruelties!1788 June, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, “Mr. Sheridan’s Speech, on Summing Up the Evidence on the Second, or Begum Charge against Warren Hastings, Esq., Delivered before the High Court of Parliament, June 1788”, in Select Speeches, Forensick and Parliamentary, with Prefatory Remarks by N[athaniel] Chapman, M.D., volume I, [Philadelphia, Pa.]: Published by Hopkins and Earle, no. 170, Market Street, published 1808, →OCLC, page 474:
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Human sciences, Linguistics, Narratology, Sciences 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.1969 March 31, Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., chapter 1, in Slaughterhouse-Five […] (A Seymour Lawrence Book), New York, N.Y.: Delacorte Press, →OCLC, page 4:
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Often A culmination or acme: the last term in an ascending series, particularly
In the accomplishment of this, they frequently reach the climax of absurdity.1789, Trifler, 448, No. XXXV:
› A culmination or acme: the last term in an…
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Often, Rhetoric The final term of a rhetorical climax.
When he adds epithets of praise, his climax is ‘so English’.1856, Ralph Waldo Emerson, chapter IX, in English Traits, page 147:
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Biology, Ecology, Natural sciencesOften The culmination of ecological development, whereby species are in equilibrium with their environment.
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.1915 July 17, Bulletin of the Illinois State Laboratory:
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Euphemistic, Often 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.1918, Marie Carmichael Stopes, Married love, section 50:
What's the use of bringing some high schooler to climax?1980, Paul Schrader, American Gigolo, spoken by Julian Kaye (Richard Gere):
Etymology From Latin clīmax, from Ancient Greek κλῖμαξ (klîmax, “ladder, staircase, [rhetorical] climax”), from κλίνω (klínō, “to lean, slant”).
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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?1978, Bionic Boogie, “Hot Butterfly”, in Gregg Diamond Bionic Boogie – Hot Butterfly (performed by Luther Vandross):
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.2012 May 31, Tasha Robinson, “Snow White And The Huntsman”, in AV Club:
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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, 1954.2018, Craig Snyder, The Boxers of Youngstown Ohio:
I have never been able to climax during sex. Is my masturbation style to blame? [title]2023 May 30, Pamela Stephenson Connolly, “I have never been able to climax during sex. Is my masturbation style to blame?”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:
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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.1979 August 4, Walter Williams, “Swimmers Attacked”, in Gay Community News, page 3: