the highest or most intense point in the development or resolution of something; culmination

His career reached its climax when he was elected president.

(in a dramatic or literary work) a decisive moment that is of maximum intensity or is a major turning point in a plot.

Rhetoric .

a figure consisting of a series of related ideas so arranged that each surpasses the preceding in force or intensity.

the last term or member of this figure.

an orgasm.

Ecology . the stable and self-perpetuating end stage in the ecological succession or evolution of a plant and animal community.

to bring to or reach a climax.

noun

anticlimax , cliffhanger

verb

delve , dip , drop , fall off

noun

acme , apex , apogee , ascendancy , capsheaf , capstone , climacteric , crest , crowning point , extremity , head , height , highlight , high spot , intensification , limit , maximum , meridian , ne plus ultra , orgasm , payoff * , pinnacle , pitch , summit , tiptop , top , turning point , utmost , zenith , crown , culmination , peak , alp , consummation , denouement , grand finale , perihelion , piton , sublimity , ultimate , vertex

verb

accomplish , achieve , break the record , cap , come , come to a head , conclude , content , crown , end , finish , fulfill , hit high spot , orgasm , peak , please , reach a peak , reach the zenith , rise to crescendo , satisfy , succeed , terminate , top , tower , crest , culminate , acme , apex , apogee , ascend , crisis , culmination , gradation , highlight , pinnacle , summit , surmount , zenith