Plain English Meaning

The most lift a wing can make before it stops flying. Push the angle of attack any higher and the wing stalls.

Full Definition

The highest value of the lift coefficient an airfoil can produce before it stalls. It occurs at the critical angle of attack — the angle just beyond which the airflow separates from the upper wing surface and lift drops sharply.

Context Anchor

Seen on lift and angle-of-attack graphs, especially when learning why a wing stalls after reaching its maximum lifting point.

Derivation

CL stands for Coefficient of Lift — a number that expresses how efficiently a wing produces lift at a given angle of attack. MAX simply marks the peak value on that curve. So CL-MAX is the top of the lift curve, just before the .