/ˈeɪpᵻsiːz/, U.S. /ˈeɪpəˌsiz/, /ˈæpəˌsiz/, apexes.apexn.1
/ˈeɪpɛks/, U.S. /ˈeɪˌpɛks//ˈeɪpᵻsiːz/, U.S. /ˈeɪpəˌsiz/, /ˈæpəˌsiz/, apexes. 1. Roman History. A small wooden rod or spike wrapped with a woollen thread, worn by the flamines (see flamen n. 1) and some other Roman priests as part of their ceremonial headdress; (also) the entire headdress, consisting of a tight-fitting cap (galerus) surmounted by the wooden rod.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > headgear > parts of headgear > [noun] > top
crown?a1475
apex1578
poll1704
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > headgear > [noun] > cap > types of > other
toque1505
biggin1511
button cap1527
undercap1531
biggin1558
fool's cap1577
apex1578
blue capa1586
wishing-cap1600
Wantage cap1609
infernal1610
porringer1623
montera1626
montera cap1652
school cap1736
wing cap1775
balloon1784
balloon-cap1785
spider-cap1790
poke-fly cap1810
strap-cap1820
mandarin cap1835
porringer-cap1839
chechia1853
turban1862
mitre1877
turban-cap1881
half-cap1893
pillbox cap1897
Queen Mary hat1928
snap-back1937
songkok1960
pakul1982
1578 W. B. in tr. Appian of Alexandria Aunc. Hist. Romanes Warres i. 40 (margin) The thing was called Apex, which was a wand wound about with wooll in the heigth of his hatte.
1591 H. Savile Annot. vpon Tacitus 26 (margin) in tr. Tacitus Ende of Nero: Fower Bks. Hist. Wearing on their heads a certain attire which they cal Apices.
1604 B. Jonson His Pt. Royall Entertainem. 545 Vpon his head a Hat of delicate wooll, whose top ended in a Cone, and was thence called Apex.
1664 F. Gouldman Copious Dict. at Apicatus Having or wearing an Apex.
1753 Chambers's Cycl. Suppl. The Apex is described as a stitched cap in form of a helmet, with the addition of a little stick fixed on the top.
1849 P. M. de Colquhoun Summ. Rom. Civil Law I. 472 He [sc. the Flamen Dialis] could not..appear without his apex.
1895 F. Granger Worship of Romans 263 When he was out of doors he always wore the apex or cap, with a small wooden spike at the top wound round with wool.
1905 Amer. Jrnl. Philol. 26 388 The priests wore an apex, a tiny wool-wound rod.
1957 Classical Rev. 57 171/1 The Flamen Dialis was required to wear his apex out of doors.
2011 J. Osgood Claudius Caesar 100 (caption) A young man wearing an apex.
2.
a. The highest part of something, esp. when forming a point; the tip, top, or peak; a pointed extremity.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > high position > [noun] > highest point or top > pointed
pin?a1475
apex1590
punctilio1601
cone1611
cuspis1646
cusp1647
peak1785
1590 J. Blagrave Baculum Familliare iii. 9 Here you see, that the extreame of the graduator..which I will hence forth cal his Apex, may but iustly touch the point I.
1610 J. Healey tr. J. L. Vives in tr. St. Augustine Citie of God ii. xv. 77 Apèx, is any thing..added to the toppe, or highest part of a thing.
1637 T. Heywood True Descr. Royall Ship 2 In the very Apex and top thereof [i.e. of Mt. Ararat], there is still to be discerned a blacke shadow.
1673 J. Ray Observ. Journey Low-countries 136 It hath a fine leaf, a small root..reddish stalks, an umbel of white flowers, to which succeed small round seeds with purple apices.
1748 Gentleman's Mag. Dec. 582/1 The petrification is seen only in that spot on the apex, upon which the water is incessantly dropping.
1769 Defoe's Tour Great Brit. (ed. 7) III. 319 The Precipices were surprisingly variegated with Apices, Prominences, [etc.].
1848 A. Jameson Sacred & Legendary Art I. 154 In the apex of the dome is seen the Celestial Dove.
1864 T. Moore Brit. Ferns 111 The apices of the fronds.
1915 Geogr. Jrnl. 46 131 The radial system of folding which affects the Pottery Coalfield and neighbouring tracts of lower Carboniferous rocks comes to an apex within the area.
1968 J. Arnold Shell Bk. Country Crafts vi. 116 An inverted ‘V’.., the apex of which is lap-joined flush with the top rail.
2006 C. Lawton Marbleworkers Athenian Agora 43 Statues that stood on the apex or corners of the roof of a building.
b. Geometry. The uppermost vertex of a plane or solid figure, esp. a triangle, cone, or pyramid; (in later use also more generally) any of the vertices of a figure. Also in extended use: the tip of anything of a shape resembling a triangle or pyramid.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > geometry > shape or figure > [noun] > element of > corner or vertex
vertex1570
cant1611
apex1659
solid angle1704
summit1809
1659 J. Moore in D. King tr. G. Desargues Universal Way of Dyaling sig. A*2 This point B, you must imagine to be the Center of the Earth..and from it at all times of the year (excepting the Æquinoctial day) the Sun in its course forms two Cones, whose Apex is the point B.
1678 E. Phillips New World of Words (new ed.) Apex, principally in a Geometrical signification, the top of a Conical figure, which ends and sharpens into a point.
1736 J. Hodgson Doctr. Fluxions iii. iv. 335 Let the right Line FH be drawn through A, the Apex of the Triangle ADE, parallel to the Base.
1753 C. Colden in B. Franklin Exper. & Observ. Electr. (1769) 256 That spout..was an inverted cone, with the tip or apex towards the sea.
1832 N. Amer. Rev. July 255 Charybdis, in its relation to those two places, makes the apex of a triangle, the base of which runs from Scylla to Reggio.
1885 Workshop Bk. 46 Draw arcs a i, b i, cutting the line e f in point i. This is the apex of the pentagon.
1936 R. S. Glasgow Princ. Radio Engin. xiii. 410 The usual type of loud-speaker consists of a paper cone driven at the apex by a suitable acoustic motor.
1972 Sci. Amer. Aug. 17/1 Since the apexes of the triangular rotor are always in contact with the housing, they create three separate variable volumes.
1981 M. Keane Good Behaviour v. 44 Our house stood at the apex of two carriage drives.
1981 A. Fraser in K. Thear & A. Fraser Compl. Bk. Livestock & Poultry (1988) viii. 208/2 It is often necessary to remove a triangular piece of the hoof wall, the apex pointing down, just below the coronet so that the new horn can grow without stresses from below.
1984 J. Phillips Freedom in Machinery v. 69/1 The tips of the vectors at the apices of the triangle form another similar triangle.
2008 J. Castex Archit. Italy 100 A set of stairs at the apex of the triangle, where it joined the street, provided the entrance to the three-tiered piazza.
c. Anatomy and Zoology. The narrow end of the heart (which in most vertebrates is roughly conical in shape).
ΚΠ
1663 N. Culpeper & A. Cole tr. T. Bartholin Anat. (new ed.) ii. vi. 97/1 Its upper part by reason of the full vessels therein, is broad and round, although not exactly, and is called the Root and Head, and Basis of the Heart: the lower part being sharper is called conus, mucro, vertex, cuspis and apex Cordis.]
1682 T. Gibson Anat. Humane Bodies ii. v. 235 But some [musculary fibres] reach not above half way, others a little further, &c. and some to the very Apex.
1788 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 78 353 On opening the pericardium the apex of the heart was found to point to the right-side.
1835–6 Todd's Cycl. Anat. & Physiol. I. 655/2 This tilting forwards of the apex gives the heart a pulsation against the ribs.
1906 Lancet 29 Dec. 1797/2 In the dog the apex may precede the base in electronegativity.
2004 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 21 Dec. d5/3 The embryo's primitive heart tube folds in the reverse of normal [in dextrocardia], and the heart's apex is positioned on the right, not the left.
d. Astronomy and Astronautics. The most northern or southern point in the apparent path of a celestial object, or (now chiefly) in the orbit of a spacecraft. Also: any extreme point in the elliptical orbit of a celestial object or spacecraft.
ΚΠ
1774 Town & Country Mag. 6 Suppl. 709/1 When it [sc. Mars] is in the lowest apex of its orb, we find a great extension of heat if it be summer.
1855 W. H. Smyth & R. Grant Arago's Pop. Astron. I. xvii. ii. 523 The apex of the ellipse nearest the sun is called the perihelion. The other apex takes the name of the aphelion.
1930 Geografiska Annaler 12 296 We assume that it is the apogee apex of the moon's orbit.
1964 Proc. Royal Soc. A. 281 448 It had been considered very desirable to operate these two stations..to take advantage of the very favourable location of the Falkland Islands near the southern apex of the satellite orbit.
2000 tr. T. Iida Satellite Communications ii. 58 The apogee of a highly elliptical orbit is set to the turning point (apex) of the orbit in the northern hemisphere.
3. figurative.
a. The highest point or culmination; the acme, the climax.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > prosperity > advancement or progress > [noun] > state of or advanced condition > highest point
prickOE
heighta1050
full1340
higha1398
pointc1400
roofa1500
top-castle1548
ruff1549
acmea1568
tip1567
noontide1578
high tide1579
superlative1583
summity1588
spring tide1593
meridian1594
period1595
apogee1600
punctilio1601
high-water mark1602
noon1609
zenith1610
auge1611
apex1624
culmination1633
cumble1640
culmen1646
climax1647
topc1650
cumulus1659
summit1661
perigeum1670
highest1688
consummation1698
stretch1741
high point1787
perihelion1804
summary1831
comble1832
heading up1857
climacteric1870
flashpoint1878
tip-end1885
peak1902
noontime1903
Omega point1981
the world > relative properties > quantity > increase in quantity, amount, or degree > [noun] > increase to highest point or degree > highest point of increase
status1577
apex1624
sublimity1637
climax1647
culmination1657
acme1761
boiling-point1773
crescendo1925
the world > time > a suitable time or opportunity > [noun] > highest or culminating point of time
apexa1676
1624 T. Heywood Γυναικεῖον 62 But to attaine to the Apex and heigth of fame and glorie, What mooued Theseus..to remooue the rocks, and plucke thence and beare away the inchanted sword?
a1643 W. Cartwright Poems in Comedies (1651) sig. M7 You who've gain'd the Apex of your Kind.
a1676 M. Hale Primitive Originat. Mankind (1677) 292 In the beginning, the first Apex of Time which began with the Being of Matter.
1710 Auction of State Pictures 13 He was the Son of the Lord knows who, for his mean Extraction shows his Rise is the very Apex or Top of all his worthy Progenitors.
1796 Freemasons' Mag. Mar. 155 To have no sense of the influence of religious principles upon the moral conduct, is the consummation, the very apex of depravity.
1818 S. T. Coleridge Coll. Lett. (1959) IV. 830 Mr Godwin, the sublime Philosopher..which Southey, my more than Delphian Oracle, had read, and recommended as the very apex of Philosophy.
1883 A. Blake in Harper's Mag. 902/1 They have attained the apex of the comic.
1975 R. Howard tr. E. M. Cioran Short Hist. Decay i. 43 We might readily abolish ourselves and, at the apex of delirium, expectorate this universe.
2010 New Yorker 6 Sept. 48/1 The apex of American baseball is known as the World Series.
b. The very highest point in a hierarchy or hierarchical structure.Often as part of an extended metaphor involving a pyramid.
ΚΠ
1792 C. James Correction Abuses Govt. 93 He is the apex of a pyramid gradually rising from the broad base of the people to the extreme point of rank and exaltation.
1827 N. Amer. Rev. July 152 Those which fairly invert the social pyramid, and place it upright upon its apex.
1858 Trans. Amer. Inst. N.-Y. 1857 25 in Docs. Assembly State N.-Y. (81st Session, Doc. No. 164) VI That great pyramid of debt of Great Britain, whose base is all the people and on whose apex sits credit, the emperor of commerce.
1890 Law Apr. 196/2 Among modern governments the hierarchy stands like a pyramid among inhabited dwellings... At its apex sits the dethroned pope.
1949 ‘G. Orwell’ Nineteen Eighty-four ii. 209 At the apex of the pyramid comes Big Brother. Big Brother is infallible and all-powerful.
1961 K. Nair Blossoms in Dust (1962) i. 28 There is a three-tiered structure of rural society with the landowner at the apex, under him the tenant and..an army of landless labourers at the base.
1987 D. Pannick Judges (1992) ii. 31 At the apex of the judicial system sit ten Law Lords who hear the final appeal to the Appellate Committee of the House of Lords.
2002 J. C. Wharton Nature Cures ii. 38 The Thomsonian health care delivery system was a pyramidal structure with Thomson at the apex..and the American public..providing the base.
4. † a. The smallest portion of anything written or said; a jot; (literal) a projecting part of a Hebrew letter, distinguishing it from others of a similar shape. Cf. tittle n. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > unimportance > [noun] > that which is unimportant > of little importance or trivial
gnatc1000
ball play?c1225
smalla1250
triflec1290
fly1297
child's gamec1380
motec1390
mitec1400
child's playc1405
trufferyc1429
toyc1450
curiosity1474
fly-winga1500
neither mass nor matins1528
boys' play1538
nugament1543
knack?1544
fable1552
nincety-fincety1566
mouse1584
molehill1590
coot1594
scoff1594
nidgery1611
pin matter1611
triviality1611
minuity1612
feathera1616
fillip1621
rattle1622
fiddlesticka1625
apex1625
rush candle1628
punctilio1631
rushlight1635
notchet1637
peppercorn1638
petty John1640
emptiness1646
fool-fangle1647
nonny-no1652
crepundian1655
fly-biting1659
pushpin1660
whinny-whanny1673
whiffle1680
straw1692
two and a plack1692
fiddle1695
trivial1715
barley-strawa1721
nothingism1742
curse1763
nihility1765
minutia1782
bee's knee1797
minutiae1797
niff-naff1808
playwork1824
floccinaucity1829
trivialism1830
chicken feed1834
nonsensical1842
meemaw1862
infinitesimality1867
pinfall1868
fidfad1875
flummadiddle1882
quantité négligeable1885
quotidian1902
pipsqueak1905
hickey1909
piddle1910
cream puff1920
squat1934
administrivia1937
chickenshit1938
cream puff1938
diddly-squat1963
non-issue1965
Tinkertoy1972
society > communication > writing > handwriting or style of > formation of letters > [noun] > part of letter > in Hebrew
tittle1538
apex1625
venter1770
horn1879
1625 R. Montagu Appello Cæsarem i. 58 In all which passage..is not one word, syllable, or apex touching your absolute, necessarie, determined, irresistable, irrespective Decree of god.
a1646 J. Gregory Posthuma (1649) 195 There beeing no difference between Gimel [ג] and Nun [נ], but a smal apex or excrescence.
a1671 S. Mather Irenicum (1680) 8 Every Apex of truth is precious, the least Jota thereof is not to be despised.
1735 L. Twells 2nd Vindic. Gospel St. Matthew 33 The Holy Ghost would..have obliged them in citing, not to alter a single Apex or Iota.
1767 J. Gill Diss. conc. Antiq. Hebrew-Lang. iv. 212 R. Akiba..in whom the glory of the law is said to cease, because he gave his mind to search out the meaning of every apex, tittle, and point in it.
b. In Latin: a diacritical mark indicating a long vowel.
ΚΠ
1762 J. Foster Ess. Accent & Quantity iv. 84 The Romans..placed a horizontal line, called an Apex, over some long syllables to distinguish them from short syllables.
1837 W. Ramsay Elem. Treat. Lat. Prosody 244 The apex was..discarded from general use.
1895 C. E. Bennett App. to Bennett's Lat. Gram. 40 The long quantity of the vowel is assured..by the presence of the apex.
1919 J. E. Sandys Lat. Epigraphy iii. 53 The apex was used to distinguish vowels which were naturally long.
1965 W. S. Allen Vox Latina iii. 65 After the end of the republic a new device makes its appearance—the so-called ‘apex’ placed above the vowel symbol.
2013 J. N. Adams Social Variation & Lat. Lang. iv. 78 The apex might have been an artificial appendage of the digraph, acknowledging the original length of the diphthong.
5. Botany.† a. An anther on a stamen. Cf. tip n.1 1c. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > part of plant > reproductive part(s) > flower or part containing reproductive organs > [noun] > parts of > stamen or pistil > stamen(s) > anther
tittle1578
pendant1664
tamis1665
apex1673
chive1691
anthera1706
summit1720
tip1776
anther1783
connective1830
trophopollen1832
anther valve1839
connectivum-
1673 J. Ray Observ. Journey Low-countries 136 An umbel of white flowers, to which succeed small round seeds with purple apices.
1691 J. Ray Wisdom of God 80 The masculine or prolifick Seed contained in the chives or apices of the stamina.
1720 P. Blair Bot. Ess. Pref. 6 The Apices..are ready to shed the Dust when it [the Flower] is expanded.
1862 C. Darwin On Var. Contrivances Orchids Fertilised vi. 251 This apex consists of a thin flattened filament.
1909 Successful Poultry Jrnl. Sept. 17/2 Within the corolla, surrounding the pistil, or shaft, are six yellow petal-like stamens, consisting of filament or leaf, and the anther or apex.
b. The tip of a plant part, spec. that of a growing shoot or root; = growing point n. at growing n. Compounds 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > part of plant > shoot, sprout, or branch > [noun] > tip from which new growth emerges
apex1835
growing point1835
mantle1884
1835 J. Lindley Key Struct., Physiol., & Systematic Bot. 30 Sometimes the growing point or apex of the pedicel extends beyond the base of the carpels, rising up between them.
1875 A. W. Bennett & W. T. T. Dyer tr. J. von Sachs Text-bk. Bot. 315 A vein..is formed from the base towards the apex, dividing the unilamellar lamina into right and left halves.
1880 S. H. Vines tr. K. Prantl Elem. Text-bk. Bot. ii. 64 The growing end or apex of an organ, such as a root or a stem, is called the growing-point (punctum vegetationis).
a1933 J. A. Thomson Biol. for Everyman (1934) II. 1058 After the very first stages of development the production of new tissues takes place predominantly at the apex or, as it is called for this reason, the growing-point.
2002 Jrnl. Heredity 93 352/2 In temperate locations, terminal apices on evergrowing (also called evergreen) peach trees keep growing in winter until killed by low temperatures, while the lateral buds go into dormancy.
6. Astronomy. The point on the celestial sphere, situated in the northern constellation Hercules, towards which the solar system is moving relative to nearby stars (more fully solar apex). Also: the point on the celestial sphere towards which the earth is moving at any given moment in its orbital motion round the sun.As a result of the motion of the solar system, stars appear to be diverging from the solar apex and converging toward the diametrically opposite antapex. Cf. antapex n.
ΚΠ
1783 W. Herschel in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 73 273 I use the term Apex here to denote that point..wherein all great circles, drawn through the supposed direction of the motion of the solar system, intersect.
1804 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 94 373 From the position of the apex of the translation of the solar system, it follows, that the parallax arising from this principle, cannot account for the motion of both the sets of double stars.
1864 Monthly Notices Royal Astron. Soc. 24 194 Such shooting-stars are seen at all times of the year, but most frequently in March, when the apex of the Earth's way is depressed below the horizon.
1933 Proc. National Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 19 39 At 6:00 a. m., with the apex high in the sky, frequencies at small zenith distances will be increased.
2011 P. Moore & R. Rees Data Bk. Astron. (ed. 2) xxix. 436/2 The apex of the Sun's way lies in Hercules, near the border with Lyra.
7. U.S. Mining. The part of a mineral vein or lode that is closest to the earth's surface; the most superficial point of a vein or lode.
ΚΠ
1870 Bill to define & protect Rights of Miners (41st Congr., 3rd Sess.: Senate Bill 1103) 1 The exclusive right of possession and enjoyment of all the surface included within the lines of their locations, and of all veins, lodes, and ledges throughout their entire depth, the top, or apex of which lie inside of such surface lines extended downward vertically.
1890 Pacific Reporter 23 550/2 Carbonate ores are sometimes found in blanket veins without apices or dips.
1908 G. P. Costigan Handbk. Amer. Mining Law ix. 137 In connection with veins it is important to define the apex of a vein, its dip, and its course or strike.
1935 T. B. Nolan Gold Hill Mining District Utah Professional Papers U.S. Geol. Surv. 177 71/1 This claim, as surveyed, failed to keep the apex of the vein between its side lines for more than 300 feet from the discovery shaft.
2005 K. G. Aiken Idaho's Bunker Hill ii. 60 The owner of the top, or apex, of a vein had a right to follow and mine that ore beyond the boundaries of the claim.
8. Chiefly Motor Racing. The point at which a vehicle following the quickest line through a turn is closest to the inside kerb.
ΚΠ
1912 Autocar 3 Aug. 210/1 As is general in most curves of this kind, the grade is steepest close to the apex of the corner.
1959 Pop. Sci. Aug. 54/1 In a race, Fitch enters a turn wide, cuts it fine at the apex, and finishes wide.
1993 Super Bike Jan. 46/1 I..noted that he went deep into the apex on the brakes, then squared the turn like a 500 GP racer of three or four years back.
2015 M. Webber Aussie Grit Prol. 12 Get to the apex, the real change of direction, and start thinking about getting out of the corner.
Compounds
apex beat n. Medicine the place where the apex of the heart can be felt or seen to strike the chest wall during systole.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > vascular system > circulation > pulsation > heartbeat > [noun] > types of
palpitation?a1425
panting1440
dunt1768
wallop1824
apex beat1847
afterbeat1853
impulse1873
extrasystole1900
sinus rhythm1911
afterpotential1930
afterload1941
preload1960
1847 Brit. & Foreign Med. Rev. 24 559 Again, it may be said, that were the case one of hydro-pericarditis, the obscure apex-beat would be discovered on a higher level than that supposed.
1909 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 13 Nov. 1440/2 The situation of the apex beat differs so greatly in children that it may be impossible in a particular case to say that apparent displacement of the apex beat indicates that the heart exceeds the limits of the normal.
2014 N. Cox in T. A. Roper Clin. Skills (ed. 2) v. 133/2 If you think the apex beat is in an abnormal position it would be unusual to find a respiratory cause to explain this.
apex court n. originally and chiefly South Asian a federal court constituting the highest judicial body, having authority over the High Courts and lower courts of individual states, from which cases may be referred; more formally called the Supreme Court.
ΚΠ
1980 Times of India 24 July 8/2 No apex court in the world has as much on its plate as does the Supreme Court.
1996 India Today 30 June 75/3 It was promptly returned by the apex court, which obviously did not want to take an essentially political decision on whether a temple existed at the site where the Babri Masjid stood.
2002 This Day (Accra) (Nexis) 31 Dec. It was a good year for the nation's Judiciary as the apex court made one bold pronouncement after the other.
apex predator n. Ecology a predator considered to be at the top of a food chain because it has no predators of its own; also figurative.
ΚΠ
1963 Commerc. Fisheries Rev. (U.S. Dept. Interior) Apr. 16/2 The fishing program will produce whole samples for..determining the feeding habits and spawning cycles of the apex predators.
1996 G. Ambrose Shark Bites p. lx. The slaughter of the ocean's apex predator could throw the underwater ecosystem out of balance.
2012 New Yorker 13 Feb. 120/1 Andrew..decides that he's an ‘apex predator’, without conscience or guilt, who can destroy whatever he wants, and he begins to misuse his powers.
apex right n. U.S. the right to mine a vein whose apex is situated within a mining claim but which may extend beyond the boundaries of the claim.
ΚΠ
1890 Trans. Amer. Inst. Mining Engineers 1889–90 18 197 The triangles..which do not belong by apex-right to either locator.
1912 Mining & Sci. Press 27 Apr. 592/1 The miner believed the apex right to be the corner-stone of successful lode mining.
2005 K. G. Aiken Idaho's Bunker Hill ii. 60 The issue continued to be apex rights—the owner of the top, or apex, of a vein had a right to follow and mine that ore beyond the boundaries of the claim.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2016; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
Apexn.2
/ˈeɪpɛks/, U.S. /ˈeɪˌpɛks/ A system of reduced fares for scheduled airline flights and (later) railway journeys, subject to certain conditions such as advance booking and payment. Frequently attributive, esp. in Apex fare, Apex ticket.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > air or space travel > transport by air > [noun] > system of fares
Apex1971
society > travel > air or space travel > transport by air > [adjective] > system of fares
Apex1971
1970 Aviation Week & Space Technol. 15 June 24/3 Pan American would also add a new excursion fare, tentatively referred to as an ‘advance purchase fare’..at a lower rate than the standard excursion tariff.]
1971 Financial Times 23 June 36/5 Air Canada also wants an ‘Apex’ fare, but has not yet put in full details to IATA.
1971 Time 23 Aug. 53/3 The West Germans argued that..APEX would only add confusion to..fares.
1985 Washington Post 18 Aug. e8/1 They fly nonstop from New York to Nice for an APEX fare of about £900 round-trip.
1993 Observer 26 Sept. (Life section) 29/3 Return rail fares..range from £33 for an Apex ticket, which must be booked seven days in advance, to £45 for a super saver.
2004 T. Wheeler Falklands & S. Georgia 176/1 The return fare from Punta Arenas is US$606 (US$566 Apex fare if booked seven days ahead).
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2016; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
Apexn.3
/ˈeɪpɛks/, U.S. /ˈeɪˌpɛks/ (The name of) a British trade union representing clerical and other non-manual workers.The Clerical and Administrative Workers Union (CAWU) changed its name to the Association of Professional, Executive, Clerical and Computer Staff in 1972. It merged with the GMB general union in 1989.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > working > association of employers or employees > [noun] > trade union > other specific trade unions
NUT1889
AWU1904
Nalgo1909
NUJ1909
Aslef1914
NUR1914
AEU1921
NUPE1931
U.A.W.1936
USDAW1946
NUM1948
T.G.W.U.1955
ACTT1957
C.B.I.1965
ASTMS1967
AUEW1971
Apex1972
UDM1985
1972 Financial Times 18 Apr. 14/5 CAWU changes its title with effect from to-day to Association of Professional, Executive, Clerical and Computer Staff (Apex).
1977 Guardian 20 May 3/1 There was now a possibility of his union trying to obtain a legal injunction to force Grunwick to recognise APEX.
1981 Economist 24 Jan. 69/1 The GMWU has also been having discussions with the electricians' union, the clerical union (Apex) and the shopworkers' union about a grand federation.
2004 Liverpool Daily Echo (Nexis) 19 Jan. 13 Union leaders at Unison, the GMB and Apex claim they were left with no alternative but to consider industrial action.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2016; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
apexv.
/ˈeɪpɛks/, U.S. /ˈeɪˌpɛks/ 1.
a. transitive. To give an apex or pointed top to; to raise to a point or tip; (figurative) to crown or cap. Often in passive.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > high position > set in a high position [verb (transitive)] > occupy or form the top of > form with a pointed top
apex1834
1834 R. Whiffin Job 87 Thus he raises his inverted pyramids, Apexed on nothing, with a boundless base Breadthed upwards to the skies.
1869 Jrnl. Soc. Arts 17 282/1 Here is a charming clock, based, surrounded, and apexed by ‘putti’, as the Italians call Cupid-like children.
1905 W. H. Hunt Pre-Raphaelitism I. 87 Should the several parts of the composition be always apexed in pyramids?
1924 Scribner's Mag. Jan. 56/1 Phil apexed his fine even eyebrows in the direction of Mary.
2011 Daily Champion (Lagos) (Nexis) 22 June A spate of terrorist attacks which was apexed by the bombing of Police Headquarters, Abuja.
b. intransitive. literal and figurative. To reach an apex, peak, or high point; to culminate.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > high position > be in high position [verb (intransitive)] > rise to a summit
peak1577
culminate1665
apex1895
1895 Evening Democrat (Warren, Pa.) 18 Mar. Thence it had mounted, apexing at last in physical man.
1918 Amer. Jrnl. Sociol. 23 517 Ethical and religious systems have frequently apexed in a morbid asceticism.
1946 E. Ellsberg Under Red Sea Sun xl. 331 A moment later, three searchlights suddenly swung together toward the west in a vast pyramid, apexing far up in the dark sky and something glimmered in that apex.
1990 K. J. Neilson Window Treatm. 155 (caption) Varied patterns of the Art Deco style that apexed during the 1930s.
2008 Irish Times (Nexis) 11 Sept. 16 It is three storeys high, with its second storey ending at the eaves of its neighbour and the third storey apexing at the roof line.
2. intransitive. U.S. Mining. Of a mineral vein or lode: to reach its highest point relative to the earth's surface (in a particular place). Cf. apex n.1 7. Now rare.
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1886 Engin. & Mining Jrnl. 20 Mar. 208/1 If the vein apexes within the lines of the Eureka, all the latter company has to do is sink on it.
1916 Deseret Evening News (Salt Lake City, Utah) 28 Apr. 7/1 If he can set up a claim that the Extension company's vein apexes on his property, there are possibilities of a pretty legal controversy.
1958 M. Barbee Lee Cripple Creek Days xvi. 192 According to Colorado mining law a vein belonged to the property on which it apexed.
2008 K. Holmes Montana x. 200 Heinze..also knew that it would be hard to prove which vein apexed where.
3. transitive. Motor Racing. To turn (a corner) at its apex or very close to the edge of the track. Cf. apex n.1 8.
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1988 Sun Herald (Sydney) 2 Oct. (Navy Souvenir ed.) 67/1 On a clear lap, Johnson will brake and downchange, apexing the right-hander at Bridgestone Bend in 3rd gear.
1995 Guardian 20 Jan. (Friday section) 9/1 Parker is a fully-fledged racing driver. He understands..when to apex a corner and just how early he can get on the gas.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2016; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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