climax

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   The most exciting or important point of an event, story, or career.

   The final battle was the climax of the entire film.

2. 2
   noun

   The turning point in a story or play, where the tension is highest.

   The deathbed scene is the climax of the play.

3. 3
   verb

   To reach the most intense or final stage.

   The plot climaxed with a ten-minute action sequence.

From Latin clīmax, from Ancient Greek κλῖμαξ (klîmax, “ladder, staircase, [rhetorical] climax”), from κλίνω (klínō, “to lean, slant”).

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