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Definition
a gradual increase in intensity; or the time of maximum intensity — especially in the loudness of music- Campaigning reached a crescendo the day before the election.
crescendo = maximum intensity
- I expect to see press partisanship reach a crescendo in the final weeks before the election.
- In the final coda, the music drops to a whisper before slowly building in a huge crescendo and transitioning without interruption to the fourth movement.http://www.experiencefestival.com/a/Symphony_No_5_Beethoven_-_Form/id/2086789 (retrieved 8/11/08) (retrieved 01/01/00)
- The sharp, reverberating hoofbeats that moments ago had mixed into the surging sound of the river were now a crescendo upon me.Rudolfo Anaya -- Bless Me, Ultima
- The babble of voices crescendos.Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee -- Inherit the Wind
- They applauded at the final Assignment; but the applause was piecemeal, no longer a crescendo of united enthusiasm.Lois Lowry -- The Giver
- The caterwauling horns had reached a crescendo and I turned away and cut across the lawn toward home.F. Scott Fitzgerald -- The Great Gatsby
- The crowd started to clap, and money rained into the hat as the music built to a crescendo.Nicholas Sparks -- The Last Song
- And when I felt like I could not take it one more minute, the swirl of sensations hit a dizzying crescendo, sending every nerve ending in my body on high alert.Gayle Forman -- If I Stay
- Then she expanded her field of action to the four blocks around her house and so on, gradually, until, in crescendo, she was sweeping all of Piedras Negras before going to school.Laura Esquivel -- Like Water for Chocolate
- The sounds—clashes, clangs, screams, moaning wails, roars of engines, spinning saws, snapping blades, the screech of spikes against the floor, hair-raising pleas for help—it all grew to a crescendo, became unbearable.James Dashner -- The Maze Runner
- Finally, as the shrieking was reach[ing] a crescendo, Bert reached over, hitting the volume button.Sarah Dessen -- The Truth About Forever
- And the night behind them was filled with the crescendoing sound of pursuit....William Goldman -- The Princess Bride
- The rain had begun in mid-afternoon, had shortly reached a crescendo, the clouds like broken dams, and then abated.Robert Cormier -- After the First Death
- The shouts and calls from outside grew to a crescendo.James Dashner -- The Kill Order
- (carrie let me GO) (Momma Momma Momma 00000000000000 0000000000) The mental scream reached a flaring, unbelievable crescendo and then suddenly faded.Stephen King -- Carrie
- And then, just as we're getting to our big crescendo, Shari elbows me, hard—which is not actually part of our choreography.Meg Cabot -- Queen of Babble
- Somewhere, a chain saw buzzed to life, the crescendo of its whine at violent odds with the stillness of the woods.Khaled Hosseini -- And The Mountains Echoed
- A crescendo of ugly hate rose from the men as the second car approached.Mildred D. Taylor -- Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
- But not thirty seconds later a murmur of worry crept in, worry which rose to a shrieking crescendo in moments.Donna Tartt -- The Goldfinch
crescendo = maximum intensity
crescendo = gradually increasing in intensity; or having gradually reached maximum intensity
crescendos = gradually increases in intensity; or reaches maximum intensity
crescendo = maximum intensity
crescendo = maximum intensity
crescendo = maximum intensity; or gradual rise to higher intensity
crescendo = maximum intensity
crescendo = the time of maximum intensity
crescendo = maximum intensity
crescendo = maximum intensity