WordWeb Online

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
   - orgasm, sexual climax, coming
    
4. The most severe stage of a disease
    
5. Arrangement of clauses in ascending order of forcefulness

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

Derived forms: climaxing, climaxes, climaxed

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, North Carolina