1. The highest point of anything conceived of as growing, developing or unfolding
   "the climax of the artist's career";
   - flood tide
    
2. The decisive moment in a novel or play
   "the deathbed scene is the climax of the play";
   - culmination
    
3. The moment of most intense pleasure in sexual intercourse
   "They both reached climax simultaneously";
   - orgasm, sexual climax, coming
    
4. The most severe stage of a disease
   "The patient's fever reached its climax on the third day"
    
5. Arrangement of clauses in ascending order of forcefulness
   "The speech built to a climax: 'We shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship'"
    
6. (ecology) a stable ecological community that is the final stage of succession
   "The oak-hickory forest represents the climax vegetation in this region"

1. End, especially to reach a final or climactic stage
   "The meeting climaxed in a tearful embrace";
   - culminate

Derived forms: climaxed, climaxes, climaxing

Type of: cease, consummation, degree, end, finish, instant, juncture, level, minute, moment, occasion, phase, phasis, point, rhetorical device, second, stage, stop, terminate

Part of: story

Encyclopedia: Climax, Ohio