extreme

n. [ OF., damage, waste. ] (Law) A destructive kind of waste, committed by a tenant for life, in lands, woods, or houses. Cowell. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. extremus, superl. of exter, extrus, on the outside, outward: cf. F. extrême. See Exterior. ] 1. At the utmost point, edge, or border; outermost; utmost; farthest; most remote; at the widest limit. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Last; final; conclusive; -- said of time; as, the extreme hour of life. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. The best of worst; most urgent; greatest; highest; immoderate; excessive; most violent; as, an extreme case; extreme folly. “The extremest remedy.” Dryden. “Extreme rapidity.” Sir W. Scott. [ 1913 Webster ]

Yet extreme gusts will blow out fire. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Radical; ultra; as, extreme opinions. [ 1913 Webster ]

The Puritans or extreme Protestants. Gladstone. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Mus.) Extended or contracted as much as possible; -- said of intervals; as, an extreme sharp second; an extreme flat forth. [ 1913 Webster ]

Extreme and mean ratio (Geom.), the relation of a line and its segments when the line is so divided that the whole is to the greater segment is to the less. --
Extreme distance. (Paint.) See Distance., n., 6. --
Extreme unction. See under Unction. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Although this adjective, being superlative in signification, is not properly subject to comparison, the superlative form not unfrequently occurs, especially in the older writers. “Tried in his extremest state.” Spenser. “Extremest hardships.” Sharp. “Extremest of evils.” Bacon. “Extremest verge of the swift brook.” Shak. “The sea's extremest borders.” Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. The utmost point or verge; that part which terminates a body; extremity. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Utmost limit or degree that is supposable or tolerable; hence, furthest degree; any undue departure from the mean; -- often in the plural: things at an extreme distance from each other, the most widely different states, etc.; as, extremes of heat and cold, of virtue and vice; extremes meet. [ 1913 Webster ]

His parsimony went to the extreme of meanness. Bancroft. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. An extreme state or condition; hence, calamity, danger, distress, etc. “Resolute in most extremes.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Logic) Either of the extreme terms of a syllogism, the middle term being interposed between them. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Math.) The first or the last term of a proportion or series. [ 1913 Webster ]

In the extreme as much as possible. “The position of the Port was difficult in the extreme.” J. P. Peters. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Having no extremes; infinite. [ 1913 Webster ]