acme : Dictionary / Wörterbuch (BEOLINGUS, TU Chemnitz)

English Dictionary: acme	by the DICT Development Group
5 results for acme
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
acme n the highest level or degree attainable; the highest stage of development; "his landscapes were deemed the acme of beauty"; "the artist's gifts are at their acme"; "at the height of her career"; "the peak of perfection"; "summer was at its peak"; "...catapulted Einstein to the pinnacle of fame"; "the summit of his ambition"; "so many highest superlatives achieved by man"; "at the top of his profession" Synonym(s): acme, height, elevation, peak, pinnacle, summit, superlative, meridian, tiptop, top the highest point (of something); "at the peak of the pyramid" Synonym(s): vertex, peak, apex, acme
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Acme \Ac"me\, n. [Gr. [?] point, top.] 1. The top or highest point; the culmination. The very acme and pitch of life for epic poetry. --Pope. The moment when a certain power reaches the acme of its supremacy. --I. Taylor. 2. (Med.) The crisis or height of a disease. 3. Mature age; full bloom of life. --B. Jonson.
From U.S. Gazetteer (1990) [gazetteer]:
Acme, LA Zip code(s): 71316 Acme, PA Zip code(s): 15610 Acme, WA Zip code(s): 98220 Acme, WY Zip code(s): 82839
From Jargon File (4.2.0, 31 JAN 2000) [jargon]:
Acme n. The canonical supplier of bizarre, elaborate, and non-functional gadgetry - where Rube Goldberg and Heath Robinson (two cartoonists who specialized in elaborate contraptions) shop. The name has been humorously expanded as A (or American) Company Making Everything. (In fact, Acme was a real brand sold from Sears Roebuck catalogs in the early 1900s.) Describing some X as an "Acme X" either means "This is {insanely great}", or, more likely, "This looks {insanely great} on paper, but in practice it's really easy to shoot yourself in the foot with it." Compare {pistol}. This term, specially cherished by American hackers and explained here for the benefit of our overseas brethren, comes from the Warner Brothers' series of "Roadrunner" cartoons. In these cartoons, the famished Wile E. Coyote was forever attempting to catch up with, trap, and eat the Roadrunner. His attempts usually involved one or more high-technology Rube Goldberg devices - rocket jetpacks, catapults, magnetic traps, high-powered slingshots, etc. These were usually delivered in large cardboard boxes, labeled prominently with the Acme name. These devices invariably malfunctioned in improbable and violent ways.
From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (15Feb98) [foldoc]:
ACME /ak'mee/ 1. A Company that Makes Everything. The {canonical} imaginary business. Possibly also derived from the word "acme" meaning "highest point". 2. A program for {MS-DOS}. [What does it do?] (1994-11-08)