Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

extreme

2 noun
     
extreme2 [countable]
1 a situation, quality etc which is as great as it can possibly be - used especially when talking about two opposites
extreme of
The bacteria can withstand extremes of heat and cold.
In fact, the truth lies between the two extremes.
at the other/opposite extreme
At the other extreme is a country like Switzerland with almost no unemployment.
Advertisements seem to go from one extreme to the other (=change from one extreme thing to something totally opposite).
2

in the extreme

to a very great degree:
This kind of experiment seems cruel in the extreme.
3

to extremes

if someone does something to extremes, they do it to a point beyond what is normal or acceptable
take/carry something to extremes
Problems only occur when this attitude is taken to extremes.
She had gone to extremes to avoid seeing him.
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

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