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   climacteric

   /ˌklʌɪmakˈtɛrɪk/

   noun

   • 1. a critical period or event: "the first major climacteric in twentieth-century poetry"
   • 2. the period of life when fertility and sexual activity are in decline; (in women) menopause: "most women do not experience significant psychological problems at the climacteric"
   • 3. the ripening period of certain fruits such as apples, involving increased metabolism and only possible while still on the tree: "ripening accompanied by a sharp rise in respiration, the so-called climacteric"

   adjective

   • 1. having extreme and far-reaching implications or results; critical: "Britain must possess so climacteric a weapon in order to deter an atomically armed enemy"
   • 2. occurring at, characteristic of, or undergoing the climacteric; (in women) menopausal: "every year adds new symptoms to climacteric syndrome"
   • 3. (of a fruit) undergoing a climacteric: "it doesn't ripen off the tree, being a climacteric fruit"

   Word Origin mid 16th century (in the sense ‘constituting a critical period in life’): from French climactérique or via Latin from Greek klimaktērikos, from klimaktēr ‘critical period’, from klimax ‘ladder, climax’.

   Scrabble Points: 19

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