Dictionary entry

Climax

Webster's Dictionary 1913

Cli″max (?), n. [L., from Gr. � ladder, staircase, fr. � to make to bend, to lean. See Ladder, Lean, v. i.] 1. Upward movement; steady increase; gradation; ascent. Glanvill.

2. (Rhet.) A figure in which the parts of a sentence or paragraph are so arranged that each succeeding one rises above its predecessor in impressiveness.

“Tribulation worketh patience, patience experience, and experience hope” — a happy climax.

J. D. Forbes.

3. The highest point; the greatest degree.

We must look higher for the climax of earthly good.

I. Taylor.

To cap the climax, to surpass everything, as in excellence or in absurdity.