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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

ac·me       (āk'mē)  Pronunciation Key  n.   The highest point, as of achievement or development: reached the acme of her career. See Synonyms at summit. [Greek akmē; see ak- in Indo-European roots.]

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
acme 

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

acme
noun
1.	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"
2.	the highest point (of something); "at the peak of the pyramid" [syn: vertex]

Free On-line Dictionary of Computing - Cite This Source - Share This

ACME company, jargon
/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)

Jargon File - Cite This Source - Share This

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.

U.S. Gazetteer - Cite This Source - Share This

Acme, LA Zip code(s): 71316

Acme, PA Zip code(s): 15610

Acme, WA Zip code(s): 98220

Acme, WY Zip code(s): 82839

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

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.

American Heritage Abbreviations Dictionary 3rd Edition - Cite This Source - Share This

ACME Advisory Committee on the Marine Environment