the decisive moment in a novel or play; "the deathbed scene is the climax of the play"
arrangement of clauses in ascending order of forcefulness
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"
a punctuation mark (.) placed at the end of a declarative sentence to indicate a full stop or after abbreviations; "in England they call a period a stop"
the end or completion of something; "death put a period to his endeavors"; "a change soon put a period to my tranquility"
a unit of geological time during which a system of rocks formed; "ganoid fishes swarmed during the earlier geological periods"
one of three periods of play in hockey games
the interval taken to complete one cycle of a regularly repeating phenomenon
a stage in the history of a culture having a definable place in space and time; "a novel from the Victorian period"
the act of finishing; "his best finish in a major tournament was third"; "the speaker's finishing was greeted with applause"
(wine tasting) the taste of a wine on the back of the tongue (as it is swallowed); "the wine has a nutty flavor and a pleasant finish"
the downfall of someone (as of persons on one side of a conflict); "booze will be the finish of him"; "it was a fight to the finish"
designated event that concludes a contest (especially a race); "excitement grew as the finish neared"; "my horse was several lengths behind at the finish"; "the winner is the team with the most points at the finish"
the place designated as the end (as of a race or journey); "a crowd assembled at the finish"; "he was nearly exhausted as their destination came into view"
cause to finish a relationship with somebody; "That finished me with Mary"
provide with a finish; "The carpenter finished the table beautifully"
relating to or according to or affecting a symptom or symptoms; "symptomatic relief"; "symptomatic treatment"; "a symptomatic classification of diseases"
of a speech expressing leave-taking; "a valedictory address"
of or relating to an occasion or expression of farewell; "a valedictory address"; "valedictory praise for his uniformly manly course"; "a suitable valedictory gesture"
a person who is the aim of an attack (especially a victim of ridicule or exploitation) by some hostile person or influence; "he fell prey to muggers"; "everyone was fair game"; "the target of a manhunt"
profit from in an exploitatory manner; "He feeds on her insecurity"