a precautionary measure warding off impending danger or damage or injury etc.; "he put an ice pack on the injury as a precaution"; "an insurance policy is a good safeguard"; "we let our guard down"
the action of perverting something (turning it to a wrong use); "it was a perversion of justice"
an aberrant sexual practice that is preferred to normal intercourse
a curve that reverses the direction of something; "the tendrils of the plant exhibited perversion"; "perversion also shows up in kinky telephone cords"
a person whose behavior deviates from what is acceptable especially in sexual behavior
change the inherent purpose or function of something; "Don't abuse the system"; "The director of the factory misused the funds intended for the health care of his workers"
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"