crescendo

noun

1. An instruction to play gradually more loudly, denoted by a long, narrow angle with its apex on the left ( < ), by musicians called a hairpin.
2. (figuratively)A gradual increase of anything, especially to a dramatic climax.

   “Their fighting rose in a fearsome crescendo.”

3. (figuratively, nonstandard)The climax of a gradual increase.

   “Their arguing rose to a fearsome crescendo.”

   “With the Stoke supporters jeering Ziv's every subsequent touch, the pantomime atmosphere created by the home crowd reached a crescendo when Ziv was shown a straight red shortly after the break in extraordinary circumstances.”

verb

1. To increase in intensity; to reach or head for a crescendo.

   “The band crescendoed and then suddenly went silent.”

   “And similarly, they are full of tricks: when the imagined stranger calls your name, the music crescendos romantically; when the video freezes on your laugh, it immediately desaturates the candid photo, making you look old-timey or famous or dead.”

adv

1. (not-comparable)Gradually increasing in force or loudness.