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Meaning & use

summit

noun·Everyday

Last updated

UK/ˈsʌmɪt/
US/ˈsʌmɪt/

Meanings

  1. nouncountable

    The highest point of a mountain or hill.

    Grammar: Countable: reach the summit, several summits.

    Patterns

    • reach the summit of something
    • the summit of something

    After six hours of climbing, they finally reached the summit.

    Clouds covered the summit all morning.

    The summit of the hill offers a view of the whole valley.

  2. nouncountable

    An important meeting between leaders of governments or organizations to discuss major issues.

    Grammar: Countable and often with a topic: a climate summit, a summit on trade.

    Patterns

    • a summit on something
    • a summit between someone and someone

    The two presidents will hold a summit next month.

    World leaders gathered for a summit on climate change.

    The trade summit ended without a final agreement.

  3. nounsingularfigurative

    The highest level a person or career can reach.

    Grammar: Usually the summit of something: the summit of her career.

    Patterns

    • the summit of something

    Winning the title was the summit of his career.

    At the summit of her fame, she could fill any stadium.

Word forms

pluralsummits

Common combinations

reach the summit
Only half of the climbers reached the summit.
summit meeting
The summit meeting lasted two days.
hold a summit
The countries plan to hold a summit in spring.
snow-capped summit
A snow-capped summit rose above the village.
attend a summit
She was asked to attend the summit as an adviser.

Synonyms and how they differ

peak
Peak is the pointed top of a mountain and also fits sales or demand, while summit fits meetings as well.
top
Top is the plain everyday word and works for any object, while summit sounds more impressive.
conference
Conference suits any large formal meeting, whereas a summit is attended by top leaders.
pinnacle
Pinnacle is mainly figurative, meaning the best moment or stage of something.

Opposites

basefoot

Word family

summiteer noun
someone who reaches a mountain summit
summiting noun
the act of reaching the top of a mountain
summit verb
to reach the top of a mountain, as in they summited at dawn

Commonly confused: summit or sommet?

summit vs sommet

Sommet is French for summit and is not an English word.

Practice

Which sentence uses summit to mean a meeting?

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