κλῖμαξ κλῖμαξ, ακος, κλίνω a ladder or staircase (because of its leaning aslant), Od., etc.:— a scaling-ladder, Thuc., Xen.; κλίμακος προσαμβάσεις Aesch.:— a shipʼs ladder, Eur., Theocr. a frame with cross-bars, on which persons to be tortured were tied, Ar. in Soph., κλίμακες ἀμφίπλεκτοι intertwining ladders, to express the entanglement of the limbs of wrestlers. a climax, i. e. a gradual ascent from weaker expressions to stronger, Lat. gradatio, as Ciceroʼs abiit, evasit, erupit.