crescendo

American  

[kri-shen-doh, -sen-doh, kre-shen-daw] / krɪˈʃɛn doʊ, -ˈsɛn doʊ, krɛˈʃɛn dɔ /

noun

plural

crescendos, crescendi

1. Music.

   1. a gradual, steady increase in loudness or force.

   2. a musical passage characterized by such an increase.

   3. the performance of a crescendo passage.

      The crescendo by the violins is too abrupt.

   Antonyms:

   diminuendo

2. a steady increase in force or intensity.

   The rain fell in a crescendo on the rooftops.

3. the climactic point or moment in such an increase; peak.

   The authorities finally took action when public outrage reached a crescendo.

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adjective

1. gradually increasing in force, volume, or loudness (decrescendo ordiminuendo ).

verb (used without object)

1. to grow in force or loudness.

crescendo British  

/ krɪˈʃɛndəʊ /

noun

1. music

   1.  cresc.  a gradual increase in loudness or the musical direction or symbol indicating this

   2. ( as modifier )

      a crescendo passage

2. a gradual increase in loudness or intensity

   the rising crescendo of a song

3. a peak of noise or intensity

   the cheers reached a crescendo

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verb

1. (intr) to increase in loudness or force

adverb

1. with a crescendo

crescendo Cultural  

1. A musical direction used to indicate increasing loudness.

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Discover More

The term is sometimes used figuratively to indicate rising intensity in general: “As the days went on, there was a crescendo of angry letters about my speech.” Crescendo is also sometimes misused to indicate a peak of intensity, as in, “The angry letters about my speech hit a crescendo on Wednesday.”

Etymology

Origin of crescendo

1770–80; < Italian: literally, growing < Latin crēscendum, gerund of crēscere to grow; crescent

Example Sentences

From Davos to Munich and across the capitals of the old Continent, the clamor is rising to a crescendo.

From The Wall Street Journal

But as Bentley started assembling the picture, he realized that “Train Dreams” reached a more emotional crescendo earlier, when Robert goes up in a biplane, crucial memories suddenly flooding through him.

From Los Angeles Times

A recent surge in trading volumes for software ETFs points to a “selling crescendo” says Chronert, and this means on a shorter-term basis “a bottom has likely been felt among the software industry group.”

From MarketWatch

But the fundamentals, the catalysts that drove events towards this week's crescendo, remain unaltered.

From BBC

Data for the survey was collected largely before geopolitical tensions between the U.S. and Europe reached a crescendo over U.S.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• escalation
• upsurge