summit
1 Americannoun
-
the highest point or part, as of a hill, a line of travel, or any object; top; apex.
- Antonyms:
- base
-
the highest point of attainment or aspiration.
the summit of one's ambition.
- Synonyms:
- culmination, zenith, acme
-
the highest state or degree.
- Synonyms:
- culmination, zenith, acme
-
the highest level of diplomatic or other governmental officials.
a meeting at the summit.
adjective
verb (used without object)
-
to take part in a summit meeting.
-
to reach a summit.
summited after a 14-hour climb.
verb (used with object)
noun
-
a city in NE New Jersey.
-
a city in NE Illinois.
noun
-
the highest point or part, esp of a mountain or line of communication; top
-
the highest possible degree or state; peak or climax
the summit of ambition
-
the highest level, importance, or rank
a meeting at the summit
-
-
a meeting of chiefs of governments or other high officials
-
( as modifier )
a summit conference
-
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of summit
First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English somete, from Old French, from som “top” (from Latin summum, noun use of neuter of summus “highest”; see sum) + -ete -et
Explanation
What better place for the mountain-climbing summit than on the summit of the mountain. A summit can mean either a meeting between people who are interested in the same subject or the peak of the mountain. Although originally meant to describe a meeting between the heads of state, summit can be used to describe any gathering of people who care deeply about the same topic. If, for example, you are the captain of your chess club, you might attend the upcoming Chess Club Summit, at which new rules of the tournament will be discussed. Moreover, while summit also means the very top of a mountain, summit can be used metaphorically to mean a variety of heights, such as the summit of a career, an industry, or any kind of major effort.
Vocabulary lists containing summit
Higher Learning: Synonyms For "Up"
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Talk Like Shakespeare Day, List 7
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The Contemporary Period, c. 1914 to the Present
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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:
Last week, leaders of the West African regional bloc Ecowas condemned reported attacks on African migrants in South Africa, as Nigeria and Ghana raised the issue at a summit in Sierra Leone.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
"We don't have time to lose. This is a moment of radical change," Byanyima told AFP in an interview on the sidelines of an African Union health summit in the Ghanaian capital Accra.
From Barron's ● Jul. 21, 2026
China is hosting the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders’ summit in Shenzhen on Nov. 18-19 and Trump is hosting the G-20 summit in Miami on Dec. 14-15 at his Doral resort.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026
He originally said he had sent the plane on ahead from the Turkey summit to an airbase in Britain so that service members could see it.
From Barron's ● Jul. 20, 2026
Standing at the summit was a mountain god—one of the numina montanum, Jason had called them.
From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan
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The FBU is urging government to convene a National Wildfire Summit to build national resilience, and is calling for 5,000 firefighters to be recruited nationwide.
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
The latter incident, the Summit fire, has already destroyed at least one home and damaged three others, according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department, but officials say its forward progress has been stopped.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 13, 2026
In a time when acts like Fred Again.. and John Summit are Gen Z fixtures and the underground is bustling with invention, the genre interest was primed.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026
Summit attendees were torn on whether the flattery that European leaders lavished the U.S. president with was genuine.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026
He was going to attend the first ever Distracted Driving Summit, which was organized by Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood.
From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel
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So he is arguably the most important non-American in the world for the regulation of crypto and stablecoins, reporting directly to G7 and G20 summits.
From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026
He also hosted Xi Jinping in Pyongyang soon after the Chinese president had held back-to-back summits in Beijing with Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
From Barron's ● Jun. 19, 2026
Xi's upcoming visit to Pyongyang would be his first in seven years, and comes after he hosted back-to-back summits with US President Donald Trump and Russia's Vladimir Putin last month.
From Barron's ● Jun. 7, 2026
In recent weeks, Xi held high-profile summits with Trump and Putin.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 5, 2026
There were a few places that resembled the summits of volcanoes.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
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Definitions 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.