crescendo

cres·cen·do  (kr-shnd)

n. pl. cres·cen·dos or cres·cen·di (-d)

1. Abbr. cr. Music

a. A gradual increase, especially in the volume or intensity of sound in a passage.

b. A passage played with a gradual increase in volume or intensity.

2.

a. A steady increase in intensity or force: "insisted [that] all paragraphs ... should be structured as a crescendo rising to a climactic last sentence" Henry A. Kissinger.

b. Usage Problem The climactic point or moment after such a progression: "The attacks ... began in December ... and reached a crescendo during [the president's] September visit" Foreign Affairs.

adj.

Gradually increasing in volume, force, or intensity.

adv. Music

With a crescendo.

intr.v. cres·cen·doed, cres·cen·do·ing, cres·cen·does

To build up to or reach a point of great intensity, force, or volume: "The designer-name craze crescendoed in the mid-seventies" Bernice Kanner.

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[Italian, present participle of crescere, to increase, from Latin crscere; see ker-² in Indo-European roots.]

Usage Note: Crescendo is sometimes used by reputable speakers and writers to denote a climax or peak, as in noise level, rather than an increase. Although citational evidence over time attests to widespread currency, it is difficult for anyone acquainted with the technical musical sense of crescendo to use it to mean "a peak." Fifty-five percent of the Usage Panel rejected it in the sentence When the guard sank a three-pointer to tie the game, the noise of the crowd reached a crescendo.

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crescendo [krish-end-oh]

Noun

pl -dos

1. a gradual increase in loudness

2. a musical passage that gradually gets louder

Adverb

gradually getting louder [Italian]

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	crescendo - (music) a gradual increase in loudness loudness, intensity, volume - the magnitude of sound (usually in a specified direction); "the kids played their music at full volume" swell - a crescendo followed by a decrescendo music - an artistic form of auditory communication incorporating instrumental or vocal tones in a structured and continuous manner
Verb	1.	crescendo - grow louder; "The music crescendoes here" increase - become bigger or greater in amount; "The amount of work increased" decrescendo - grow quieter; "The music decrescendoes here"
Adj.	1.	crescendo - gradually increasing in volume increasing - music

Translations

crescendo [krɪˈʃɛndəu] n → crescendo m

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crescendo [krɪˈʃɛndəu] n → Höhepunkt m;

(Mus) → Crescendo nt

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crescendo [krɪˈʃɛndəu] n → crescendo