From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishcrescendocre‧scen‧do /krəˈʃendəʊ $ -doʊ/ noun (plural crescendos) [countable] 1 APMif a sound or a piece of music rises to a crescendo, it gradually becomes louder until it is very loud OPP diminuendo The shouting rose to a deafening crescendo. The curtains opened as the music reached a crescendo.2 INCREASE IN ACTIVITY, FEELINGS ETCif an activity or feeling reaches a crescendo, it gradually becomes stronger until it is very strong SYN climax The campaign reached its crescendo in the week of the election.
Examples from the Corpus
crescendo• It reached a crescendo, though, in December with altercations at the Lindale center and at the Moose Lodge.• The mood on campus is building to a crescendo of excitement.• For the next 300 million years, the outpouring of magma built toward a crescendo.• Normally, we see this ability reaching an early crescendo between four and six months.• They seem to rise in a brief but sometimes piercing crescendo from the area of the stairwell at Cumnor Place.• Where was the promised crescendo they asked themselves?• Ari lazily observed its ripening crescendo.• The event was the crescendo of a century of history on the Great Plains.reached a crescendo• The clamour reached a crescendo last year when the full extent of the problems relating to the Solicitors Indemnity Fund emerged.• The violins had reached a crescendo.• It reached a crescendo, though, in December with altercations at the Lindale center and at the Moose Lodge.• When he struggled to find winners at the start of the season, the cries of gleeful recrimination reached a crescendo.Origin crescendo (1700-1800) Italian “growing”, from Latin crescendum, from crescere; → CRESCENT 