pinnacle

views updated May 29 2018

pin·na·cle / ˈpinəkəl/ • n. a high, pointed piece of rock. ∎  a small pointed turret built as an ornament on a roof. ∎  the most successful point; the culmination: he had reached the pinnacle of his career.• v. [tr.] poetic/lit. set on or as if on a pinnacle: a rustic cross was pinnacled upon the makeshift altar. ∎  form the culminating point or example of.DERIVATIVES: pin·na·cled adj.

pinnacle

views updated May 23 2018

pinnacle. Ornamental pyramid or cone, the terminating feature of a buttress, parapet-angle, spire, turret, etc., often ornamented with crockets. (See following illustration.)

pinnacle

views updated May 23 2018

pinnacle pointed turret; mountain-peak XIV; highest pitch or point XV. — OF. pin(n)acle (mod. pinacle) — late L. pinnāculum, dim. of L. pinna feather, wing, pinnacle; see PIN, -CLE.