CLIMAX

orgasm, climax, sexual climax, coming

(noun) the moment of most intense pleasure in sexual intercourse

climax, culmination

(noun) the decisive moment in a novel or play; “the deathbed scene is the climax of the play”

climax

(noun) arrangement of clauses in ascending order of forcefulness

climax, flood tide

(noun) the highest point of anything conceived of as growing or developing or unfolding; “the climax of the artist’s career”; “in the flood tide of his success”

climax

(noun) the most severe stage of a disease

culminate, climax

(verb) end, especially to reach a final or climactic stage; “The meeting culminated in a tearful embrace”

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology

Noun

climax (countable and uncountable, plural climaxes)

(originally, rhetoric) A rhetorical device in which a series is arranged in ascending order.

(obsolete) An instance of such an ascending series.

(narratology) The culmination of a narrative's rising action, the turning point.

(now commonly) A culmination or acme: the last term in an ascending series, particularly

(rhetoric, imprecise) The final term of a rhetorical climax.

(ecology) The culmination of ecological development, whereby species are in equilibrium with their environment.

The culmination of sexual pleasure, an orgasm.

Synonyms

• (rhetorical device): incrementum; (imprecise): auxesis, catacosmesis

• (culmination): See apex

Antonyms

• (rhetorical device): catacosmesis

Verb

climax (third-person singular simple present climaxes, present participle climaxing, simple past and past participle climaxed)

(ambitransitive) To reach or bring to a climax.

(intransitive) To orgasm; to reach orgasm.

Source: Wiktionary

Cli"max, n. Etym: [L., from Gr. Ladder, Lean, v. i.]

1. Upward movement; steady increase; gradation; ascent. Glanvill.

2. (Rhet.)

Definition: A figure of which the parts of a sentence or paragraph are so arranged that each sicceeding one rise "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. [Colloq.]

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition