Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary - climax

 I. noun  Etymology: Late Latin, from Greek klimax, literally, ladder, from klinein to lean  Date: circa 1550  1. a figure of speech in which a series of phrases or sentences is arranged in ascending order of rhetorical forcefulness  2.  a. the highest point ; culmination the ~ of a distinguished career  b. the point of highest dramatic tension or a major turning point in the action (as of a play)  c. orgasm  d. menopause  3. a relatively stable ecological stage or community especially of plants that is achieved through successful adaptation to an environment; especially the final stage in ecological succession  Synonyms: see summit  • ~less adjective  II. verb  Date: 1835  transitive verb to bring to a ~ ~ed his boxing career with a knockout  intransitive verb to come to a ~ a riot ~ing in the destruction of several houses