to build to a crescendo

Examples

• All

• The pessimism built to a crescendo as worry about rising violence and incivility, widening wealth inequality, and the splitting of the national consensus into extremes on the left and right led the country into a winter of discontent.

  Blog text (5)

• A dizzying camera whirls around Christiane as the music builds to a crescendo, and Lenin disappears quite literally into the sunset.

  Academic text (2010)

• And another and another, building to a crescendo of grave, quiet voices.

  Fiction book (1993)

• I want to lose myself as the music washes over him like water and the band builds to a crescendo.

  Academic text (2001)

• The drum cadence has built to a crescendo.

  Fiction book (1992)

• The sounds of derisive booing build to a crescendo, and then...

  Fiction book (1994)

• Expect the outrage to build to a raging crescendo right around the 1st of November.

  Blog text (30)

• The music was building to a crescendo, and Aunt Honey was going into a fit of jumps, loops, spins, and spirals.

  Fiction book (1993)

• With my eyes on the cymbalist, I listened nervously as the music built to a crescendo, but the piece finished uneventfully and intermission arrived.

  Fiction book (1996)

• Her voice was lusty, operatic, rising and falling in melodic screams that built to a series of crescendos, then subsided as she gathered breath.

  Fiction book (1998)

Synonyms

R

to rise

vsto build to a crescendo

904 1.0

To become greater in amount or strength

focuses on a gradual upward movement that ends in a climax

E

to escalate

vsto build to a crescendo

220 5.5

To become larger, more serious, or more intense

is similar but stresses the gradual rise toward an ultimate climax

B

to build up

vsto build to a crescendo

207 3.0

Increase slowly over time

adds that the rise specifically grows toward an intense climax

I

to intensify

vsto build to a crescendo

110 4.0

Make something stronger or more intense

adds that the intensity rises gradually toward a peak moment

H

to heighten

vsto build to a crescendo

76 4.1

To make a feeling, effect or situation stronger

means the intensity grows step by step until a climax

S

to step up

vsto build to a crescendo

74 3.4

Make something greater in amount, speed or strength

is about steadily building intensity until reaching a decisive high point

H

to heat up

vsto build to a crescendo

57 3.4

To become more intense or make a situation more intense

specifies a steady increase that culminates in a peak

R

to ramp

vsto build to a crescendo

57 4.5

To increase something gradually in stages

highlights continuous growth that reaches a final intense point

R

to ramp up

vsto build to a crescendo

47 4.1

To increase something, especially its amount or speed

focuses on steady buildup that culminates in a strong climax

C

to crank up

vsto build to a crescendo

• Informal

39 3.8

To increase the level or strength of something, for example volume, production

instead implies a smoother slow build that reaches an intense peak

R

to ratchet up

vsto build to a crescendo

18 6.7

To increase something slowly until it becomes hard to reduce

is also gradual but emphasizes growing force toward a final peak

C

to crescendo

vsto build to a crescendo

• Specialized

1 6.3

To become gradually louder or stronger

is a gradual rise that peaks in a clear climax

C

to culminate

vsto build to a crescendo

• Formal

1 6.7

Form the highest point of something like a roof or mountain

describes the gradual build up that ends at that highest point

C

to crank up to eleven

vsto build to a crescendo

• Slang

8.6

To increase something to its highest or most extreme level

is more gradual, aiming for a climactic peak rather than instant maximum

P

to push into overdrive

vsto build to a crescendo

6.1

To work much harder and faster to get something done

describes a progressive rise in force that culminates in a climax

Antonyms

D

to diminish

201 3.7

To become less in size, importance, or value

How Intense

to build to a crescendo

1 7.1

to build up

207 3.0

to increase

∞ 1.0

to rise

718 1.0

Surface Forms

Morphology

Etymology