CLIMAX

I. noun Etymology: Late Latin, from Greek klimax, literally, ladder, from klinein to lean Date: circa 1550 a figure of speech in which a series of phrases or sentences is arranged in ascending order of rhetorical forcefulness, 2. the highest point ; culmination , the point of highest dramatic tension or a major turning point in the action (as of a play), orgasm , menopause , a relatively stable ecological stage or community especially of plants that is achieved through successful adaptation to an environment, see: summit ~less adjective II. verb Date: 1835 transitive verb to bring to a ~ , intransitive verb to come to a ~