culminate
Americanverb (used without object)
-
culminates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
culminated,
past participle, past
-
culminating
present participle
-
to reach the highest point, summit, or highest development (usually followed by in).
-
to end or arrive at a final stage (usually followed by in).
The argument culminated in a fistfight.
-
to rise to or form an apex; terminate (usually followed by in).
The tower culminates in a tall spire.
-
Astronomy. (of a celestial body) to be on the meridian, or reach the highest or the lowest altitude.
verb (used with object)
-
culminates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
culminated,
past participle, past
-
culminating
present participle
verb
-
to end or cause to end, esp to reach or bring to a final or climactic stage
-
(intr) (of a celestial body) to cross the meridian of the observer
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
culminatesimple
-
culminatessimple
-
have culminatedperfect
-
has culminatedperfect
-
am culminatingprogressive
-
are culminatingprogressive
-
is culminatingprogressive
-
have been culminatingperfect progressive
-
has been culminatingperfect progressive
Past
-
culminatedsimple
-
had culminatedperfect
-
was culminatingprogressive
-
were culminatingprogressive
-
had been culminatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of culminate
First recorded in 1640–50; from Late Latin culminātus (past participle of culmināre to come to a peak), equivalent to Latin culmin- (stem of culmen ) “peak, top” + -ātus -ate 1
Explanation
The verb culminate is used to describe a high point or a climactic stage in a process. For example, the goal of a Major League baseball team is to have their season culminate in a World Series victory. The word culminate derives from the Latin word culminatus, the past participle of culminare, which means "to top or crown." Use culminate when you are referring to a crowning moment or a final conclusion: “I want my experiments combining strawberry jam with burnt toast to culminate in a Nobel Prize in Chemistry — or at least a lucrative contract with a major food supplier.”
Vocabulary lists containing culminate
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Raman and a majority of her colleagues had voted the previous year for a package of increases that would culminate in a $30-per-hour minimum wage in summer 2028.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 12, 2026
The Pacific forum, which will culminate with a leaders' retreat on Thursday, has been touted for decades as a symbol of regional unity.
From Barron's ● Aug. 31, 2026
Kerr, whose training is based in the United States, decided to target the record this season as it was the first in six years not to culminate in a major global championship.
From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026
George H. W. Bush's February 1989 visit was overshadowed by growing calls for democratic reform in China that would culminate in massive protests and a bloody crackdown later that year.
From Barron's ● May 15, 2026
Thus commencing a cycle that can only culminate in further anger and distress.
From "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote
Spooky season culminates tomorrow, and my colleagues have put together a frightfully good list of what to brew, read, and dress up as to get your weekend off to the right start:
From Slate ● Oct. 30, 2026
The Pacific forum culminates with a leaders' retreat on Thursday, during which officials are expecting to hammer out wording for a joint communique.
From Barron's ● Sep. 3, 2026
The live entertainment accelerator started in 2022 as a 10-week experiment and has since grown into a six-month intensive program with weekly guest speakers from Live Nation, which culminates in the annual block party.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2026
After Wimbledon, the season switches to the North American hard court swing which culminates at the US Open between 30 August and 13 September.
From BBC ● Jul. 4, 2026
His embarrassment would have pleased me, but once he recovered, there would be that awkward period that sometimes culminates in a handshake.
From "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris
The attacks culminated in an RSF raid on 8 June.
From BBC ● Oct. 22, 2026
That tendency culminated in the now-legendary 2025 National Security Strategy, a document that offers most presidential administrations a chance to deliver boilerplate language about shared values, human rights and democracy.
From Salon ● Oct. 19, 2026
One of hundreds of housing protesters camping in central Madrid, Aitana Lopez felt duty-bound to pay tribute to a pensioner whose eviction sparked a movement that culminated in early elections.
From Barron's ● Oct. 8, 2026
The $111-billion transaction culminated a year-long battle by the 43-year-old tech scion to add Warner Bros.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026
The mass action campaign culminated in a general strike on August 3 and 4 in support of the ANC’s negotiation demands and in protest against state-supported violence.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
But the cost of living is a key issue for voters, especially Spain's long-running housing crisis, with protests over the issue culminating in Sanchez's calling of a snap general election on November 29.
From Barron's ● Oct. 30, 2026
In the playoffs, they somehow elevated their performance, culminating with a celebration that rang out from the stands at Tropicana Field and extended to the shores of Lake Michigan.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 29, 2026
Monday's second stage begins the process of releasing batches of offenders serving increasingly long sentences - culminating next June with those serving more than 12 years.
From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2026
Rebecca Onion digs into the movie’s many twists and turns, culminating in “the psychological-thriller equivalent of a plot quadruple axel.”
From Slate ● Oct. 5, 2026
At dawn, Mount Elgon appeared as a slumped pile of gray ridges receding into haze, culminating in a summit with two peaks, which are opposed lips of the eroded cone.
From "The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
