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:
The South America trip will culminate with an emotional homecoming in Peru.
From Barron's ● Nov. 1, 2026
“Any officers who violate those standards are held accountable through investigations that may culminate in their peace officer status being suspended or revoked entirely.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 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
Smaller-deal activity is picking up, in part, because many founder-led businesses started by baby boomers are in the midst of succession planning, which will culminate in a wave of sale activity, according to Richert.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026
Programs scheduled to culminate in two years became outmoded in six months, and crowds of men gathered for them in one place were dispersed to twenty others.
From "A Separate Peace" by John Knowles
The first starts with terror of the unknown and unseen but culminates in sheer pathos; the latter keeps the reader guessing: Is the creature real or merely the product of a diseased imagination?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026
It culminates in a deeply unserious fight scene where everyone is very obviously not throwing punches.
From Slate ● Sep. 26, 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
That has been evident in Jaissle's first week, which culminates in a friendly against Valencia at the Mestalla on Saturday.
From BBC ● Aug. 8, 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 lifelong quest of Johannes Kepler, to understand the motions of the planets, to seek a harmony in the heavens, culminated thirty-six years after his death, in the work of Isaac Newton.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
Saturday's programme featured events across the city and district, culminating in the traditional carnival parade with costumes, floats, music and dance performances.
From BBC ● Oct. 31, 2026
He has been just as dominant in October: four appearances, 16 ⅔ innings, two runs, culminating with another 5 ⅓ impressive frames Monday with a pennant on the line.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 20, 2026
Brussels has already drawn Washington's ire with probes under different laws, culminating in fines worth billions of dollars.
From Barron's ● Oct. 6, 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.
