pinnacle

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. Architecture A small turret or spire on a roof or buttress.
2. n. A tall pointed formation, such as a mountain peak.
3. n. The highest point; the culmination. See Synonyms at summit.
4. v. To furnish with a pinnacle.
5. v. To place on or as if on a pinnacle.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. A sharp point or peak; the very topmost point, as of a mountain.
2. n. In architecture, any relatively small structure (of whatever form, but commonly terminating in a cone or a pyramid) that rises above the roof or coping of a building, or caps a projecting architectural member, such as a buttress. Its constructive object is to give greater weight to the member which it crowns, in order that this may better resist some lateral pressure. The application of the term is generally limited to an ornamental spire-shaped structure, standing on parapets, angles, and buttresses, and often adorned with rich and varied devices. Pinnacles are very numerous in the fully developed medieval style; their shafts are sometimes formed into niches, and are sometimes paneled or quite plain; in examples of late date, every one of the sides generally terminates in a gablet. The tops are often crocketed, and have finials at the apex. Pinnacles are most often square in plan, but are sometimes octagonal, hexagonal, or pentagonal. See also cut under crocket.
3. To put a pinnacle or pinnacles on; furnish with a pinnacle or pinnacles.
4. To place on or as on a pinnacle.

Wiktionary

1. n. The highest point.
2. n. A tall, sharp and craggy rock or mountain.
3. n. An all-time high; a point of greatest achievement or success
4. v. to put something on a pinnacle

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. An architectural member, upright, and generally ending in a small spire, -- used to finish a buttress, to constitute a part in a proportion, as where pinnacles flank a gable or spire, and the like. Pinnacles may be considered primarily as added weight, where it is necessary to resist the thrust of an arch, etc.
2. n. Anything resembling a pinnacle; a lofty peak; a pointed summit.
3. v. To build or furnish with a pinnacle or pinnacles.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. the highest level or degree attainable; the highest stage of development
2. n. (architecture) a slender upright spire at the top of a buttress of tower
3. n. a lofty peak
4. v. raise on or as if on a pinnacle
5. v. surmount with a pinnacle