| 释义 |
▪ I. culminate, v.|ˈkʌlmɪneɪt|
[f. late L. culmi-nāt-, ppl. stem of culmināre, f. culmen, culmin- (see above); see -ate, and cf. mod.F. culminer.]
1. intr. Astron. Of a heavenly body: To reach its greatest altitude, to be on the meridian.
1647Lilly Chr. Astrol. clvi. 649 If the Luminary culminate. 1667Milton P.L. iii. 617 All Sun-shine, as when his Beams at Noon Culminate from th' æquator. 1879Lockyer Elem. Astron. iv. 158 To find the time at which any star culminates, or passes the meridian.
2. gen. To reach its highest point or summit, as a mountain-chain, etc.; to rise to an apex or summit. Const. in.
1665[see culminating ppl. a.].
a1770C. Smart Hop Garden i. (R.), While above Th' embow'ring branches culminate, and form A walk impervious to the sun. 1833Marryat P. Simple xv, At which distance the enormous waves culminated and fell with the report of thunder. 1869Rawlinson Anc. Hist. 16 The mountain system [of Armenia] culminates in Ararat.
3. fig. (Chiefly from 1.) To reach its acme, or highest development. Const. in, to.
a1662Heylin Life of Laud (1668) 155 Being once in the Ascendent, [he] presumed that he should culminate before his time. 1837Carlyle Fr. Rev. I. i. i. 3 Thus D'Aiguillon rose again and culminated. 1854Emerson Lett. & Soc. Aims, Eloquence Wks. (Bohn) III. 195 All the genius ran in that direction, until it culminated in Shakspeare. 1855Motley Dutch Rep. ii. v. (1866) 233 The uneasiness, the terror, the wrath of the people, seemed rapidly culminating to a crisis. 1875Helps Anim. & Mast. viii. 195 There are times when Art seems to culminate and then to descend. 1878Huxley Physiogr. 196 These disturbances culminated in the great eruption of a.d. 79.
4. trans. To bring (a thing) to its highest point, to form the summit of; to crown.
1659R. Eedes Christ's Exaltation 35 That's the altitude, the very apex that culminates a believer's happiness. 1675Ogilby Brit. Ded., May the same Influences tend to the Culminating all other Arts. 1896Earl of Rosebery in Westm. Gaz. 12 Sept. 5/1 This brings to a head and culminates all the nameless massacres in Asia Minor. 1904Illustrated Bee (Omaha) 25 Sept., A romance extending over several years was culminated. 1927Daily Express 25 Apr. 1/5 They decided that an immediate ceremony would culminate their childhood romance.
▪ II. ˈculminate, a.
[ad. late L. culmināt-us, pa. pple. of culmināre: see prec.]
‘Growing upward, as distinguished from a lateral growth; applied to the growth of corals’ (Dana).
1864in Webster. |