climax

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
climax/ˈklʌɪmaks/

▶noun

• 1 the most intense, exciting, or important point: a thrilling climax to the game.

• 2 an orgasm.

• 3 Rhetoric a sequence of propositions or ideas in order of increasing importance, force, or effectiveness of expression.

• 4 Ecology the final stage in a succession in a given environment, at which a plant community reaches a state of equilibrium.

▶verb reach or bring to a climax.

– origin C16: from late L., from Gk klimax ‘ladder, climax’.