Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of Extreme?

\Ex*treme"\, a. [L. extremus, superl. of exter, extrus, on the outside, outward: cf. F. extr[^e]me. See {Exterior}.] 1. At the utmost point, edge, or border; outermost; utmost; farthest; most remote; at the widest limit. 2. Last; final; conclusive; -- said of time; as, the extreme hour of life. 3. The best of worst; most urgent; greatest; highest; immoderate; excessive; most violent; as, an extreme case; extreme folly. ``The extremest remedy.'' --Dryden. ``Extreme rapidity.'' --Sir W. Scott. Yet extreme gusts will blow out fire. --Shak. 4. Radical; ultra; as, extreme opinions. The Puritans or extreme Protestants. --Gladstone. 5. (Mus.) Extended or contracted as much as possible; -- said of intervals; as, an extreme sharp second; an extreme flat forth. {Extreme and mean ratio} (Geom.), the relation of a line and its segments when the line is so divided that the whole is to the greater segment is to the less. {Extreme distance}. (Paint.) See {Distance}., n., 6. {Extreme unction}. See under {Unction}. Note: Although this adjective, being superlative in signification, is not properly subject to comparison, the superlative form not unfrequently occurs, especially in the older writers. ``Tried in his extremest state.'' --Spenser. ``Extremest hardships.'' --Sharp. ``Extremest of evils.'' --Bacon. ``Extremest verge of the swift brook.'' --Shak. ``The sea's extremest borders.'' --Addison.
\Ex*treme"\, n. 1. The utmost point or verge; that part which terminates a body; extremity. 2. Utmost limit or degree that is supposable or tolerable; hence, furthest degree; any undue departure from the mean; -- often in the plural: things at an extreme distance from each other, the most widely different states, etc.; as, extremes of heat and cold, of virtue and vice; extremes meet. His parsimony went to the extreme of meanness. --Bancroft. 3. An extreme state or condition; hence, calamity, danger, distress, etc. ``Resolute in most extremes.'' --Shak. 4. (Logic) Either of the extreme terms of a syllogism, the middle term being interposed between them. 5. (Math.) The first or the last term of a proportion or series. {In the extreme} as much as possible. ``The position of the Port was difficult in the extreme.'' --J. P. Peters.