crescendo

[kri-shen-doh, -sen-doh; Italian kre-shen-daw] /ckrɪˈʃɛn doʊ, -ˈsɛn doʊ; Italian krɛˈʃɛn dɔ/
noun, plural crescendos, crescendi
[kri-shen-dee, -sen-dee; Italian kre-shen-dee] /krɪˈʃɛn di, -ˈsɛn di; Italian krɛˈʃɛn di/ (Show IPA)
1.
Music.
  1. a gradual, steady increase in loudness or force.
  2. a musical passage characterized by such an increase.
  3. the performance of a crescendo passage:
    The crescendo by the violins is too abrupt.
2.
a steady increase in force or intensity:
The rain fell in a crescendo on the rooftops.
3.
the climactic point or moment in such an increase; peak:
The authorities finally took action when public outrage reached a crescendo.
adjective, adverb
4.
gradually increasing in force, volume, or loudness (opposed to decrescendo or diminuendo).
verb (used without object)
5.
to grow in force or loudness.
Origin
1770-80; < Italian: literally, growing < Latin crēscendum, gerund of crēscere to grow; see crescent
Antonyms
1. diminuendo.
Examples from the web for crescendo
  • Having set the stage, he drives the play along by natural crescendo to a startling and terrifying climax.
  • There they'll grow and bloom through winter until their crescendo in spring.
  • Any mental activity is accompanied by a ceaseless crescendo and diminuendo of background processing.
  • The crescendo of calls is quite loud but subsides quickly before the rest of the lemurs get going.
  • Specimens flicker by in an entrancing crescendo until the video becomes a frenzied slew of images.
  • Voices rise in crescendo, chanting for the regime to fall.
  • If you want to build to a crescendo, it makes sense to start the bowl season with one of the biggest mismatches in the opener.
  • The real substance, that insidious background crescendo, is gone.
  • Sobs filled the house in a crescendo that became a group lamentation.
  • But the stark crescendo of the proceedings more often suggests the case history of a delinquent hill-billy.
British Dictionary definitions for crescendo

crescendo

/krɪˈʃɛndəʊ/
noun (pl) -dos, -di (-dɪ)
1.
(music)
  1. a gradual increase in loudness or the musical direction or symbol indicating this cresc, (written over the music affected) ≺
  2. (as modifier): a crescendo passage
2.
a gradual increase in loudness or intensity: the rising crescendo of a song
3.
a peak of noise or intensity: the cheers reached a crescendo
verb -does, -doing, -doed
4.
(intransitive) to increase in loudness or force
adverb
5.
with a crescendo
Word Origin
C18: from Italian, literally: increasing, from crescere to grow, from Latin
Word Origin and History for crescendo
n.

1776 as a musical term, from Italian crescendo "increasing," from Latin crescendo, ablative of gerund of crescere "to increase" (see crescent). Figurative use is from 1785. As a verb, from 1900.

crescendo in Culture
crescendo [(kruh-shen-doh)]

A musical direction used to indicate increasing loudness.

Note: The term is sometimes used figuratively to indicate rising intensity in general: “As the days went on, there was a crescendo of angry letters about my speech.” Crescendo is also sometimes misused to indicate a peak of intensity, as in, “The angry letters about my speech hit a crescendo on Wednesday.”