1.
If something is the ~ of something else, it is an ideal or typical example of it. (FORMAL)
The Oriental in Bangkok is the ~ of the grand hotel.
= epitome
N-SING: oft N of n
2.
If you describe an event or a time as someone’s ~, you mean that it was the high point in their career or their life. (FORMAL)
That night was Richard’s ~.
N-SING: with poss