climb
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: enpr: klīm
ipa: /klaɪm/
homophone: clime
rhymes: -aɪm
Forms: form: climbs
form: climbing
form: climbed
form: clomb
form: climbed
form: clomb
form: clumb
form: no-table-tags
form: glossary
form: climb
form: climb
form: climbed
form: clomb
form: climb
form: climbest
form: climbed
form: climbedst
form: clomb
form: climbs
form: climbeth
form: climbed
form: clomb
form: climb
form: climbed
form: clomb
form: climb
form: climbed
form: clomb
form: climb
form: -
form: climbing
form: climbed
form: clumb
Etymology: From Middle English climben, from Old English climban (“to climb”), from Proto-West Germanic *klimban, from Proto-Germanic *klimbaną (“to climb, go up by clinging”), believed to be a nasalised variant of Proto-Germanic *klibaną, *klibāną (“to stick, cleave”), from Proto-Indo-European *gley- (“to stick”). Cognate with West Frisian klimme (“to climb”), Dutch klimmen (“to climb”), German klimmen (“to climb”), Old Norse klembra (“to squeeze”), Icelandic klifra (“to climb”). Related to clamber. See also clay, glue.
Senses: examples: text: Prices climbed steeply.
text: Black vapours climb aloft, and cloud the day.
ref: 1697, Virgil, “The Seventh Book of the Æneis”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:
text: So we continue climbing to the saddle of the Kleine Scheidegg, where ahead there comes into view the wide expanse of the Grindelwald valley, backed by the snowy crown of the Wetterhorn.
ref: 1960 December, Voyageur, “The Mountain Railways of the Bernese Oberland”, in Trains Illustrated, page 752:
text: After Bridge of Orchy, the line climbs steeply into the wild country of Rannoch Moor. The railway builders chose a different route across the moor from the road - we are completely on our own up here.
ref: 2023 November 29, Paul Clifton, “West is best in the Highlands”, in RAIL, number 997, page 39:
glosses: To ascend; rise; to go up.
examples: text: climbing a tree
text: They climbed the mountain.
text: Other Hooverian devices become familiar too. Characters often have names that are so obscure they barely seem like real names (Ryle, Lowen, Chastin, Atlas, Crew) but might wind up climbing the baby name list — now you know why — in a few years’ time.
ref: 2023 July 6, Pamela Paul, “What’s the Story With Colleen Hoover?”, in The New York Times:
glosses: To mount; to move upwards on.
examples: text: He is a curly-haired schoolboy barely in his teens, but 13-year-old Jordan Romero from California has become the youngest person to climb Mount Everest.
ref: 2010 May 22, David Harrison, “American boy, 13, is youngest person to climb Everest”, in Daily Telegraph online:
glosses: To scale; to get to the top of something.
examples: text: My legs were so stiff and my arms so sore that this morning barely could climb out of bed.
text: A priest clad in a white robe climbs the tree and with a golden sickle cuts the mistletoe, which is caught in a white cloth.
ref: 1900, James Frazer, The Golden Bough Chapter 65:
text: She thought she must have been mistaken at first, for none of the scarecrows in Kansas ever wink; but presently the figure nodded its head to her in a friendly way. Then she climbed down from the fence and walked up to it, while Toto ran around the pole and barked.
ref: 1900 May 17, L[yman] Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Chicago, Ill.; New York, N.Y.: Geo[rge] M[elvin] Hill Co., →OCLC:
text: Cutter and Bolan climbed around the furniture and piled into the back of the truck.
ref: 2008, Tony Atkins, Dragonhawk - the Turning:
glosses: To move (especially up and down something) by gripping with the hands and using the feet.
glosses: To practise the sport of climbing.
examples: text: The defender climbed majestically at the near post to convert Johnson's corner.
ref: 2010 December 28, Paul Fletcher, “Man City 4 - 0 Aston Villa”, in BBC:
text: As the game moved towards injury time, the Ospreys forced a line-out which Jonathan Thomas climbed high to take.
ref: 2008 September 13, “Ospreys Glasgow Magners League”, in South Wales Evening Post:
text: Four minutes of stoppage time were virtually up when Ricketts climbed to head in the equaliser from substitute Nicky Southall's centre.
ref: 2001 December 29, Derick Allsop, “Bolton's nine men hit back to steal a point”, in Daily Telegraph online:
glosses: To jump high.
glosses: To move to a higher position on the social ladder.
examples: text: The hit song has climbed to the number one spot.
glosses: To move to a higher position on a chart, table, society, etc.
topics: biology
botany
natural-sciences
glosses: Of plants, to grow upwards by clinging to something.
Synonyms: sense: get to the top of
word: scale
Derived terms: sense: Terms derived from climb (verb)
word: ants climbing a tree
sense: Terms derived from climb (verb)
word: bullet climb
sense: Terms derived from climb (verb)
word: climbability
sense: Terms derived from climb (verb)
word: climbable
sense: Terms derived from climb (verb)
word: climb down
sense: Terms derived from climb (verb)
word: climb down someone's throat
sense: Terms derived from climb (verb)
word: climber
sense: Terms derived from climb (verb)
word: climbing gourami
sense: Terms derived from climb (verb)
word: climbing lane
sense: Terms derived from climb (verb)
word: climbing maidenhair fern
sense: Terms derived from climb (verb)
word: climbing nightshade
sense: Terms derived from climb (verb)
word: climbing perch
sense: Terms derived from climb (verb)
word: climb into
sense: Terms derived from climb (verb)
word: climb on the bandwagon
sense: Terms derived from climb (verb)
word: climb the ladder
sense: Terms derived from climb (verb)
word: climb the walls
sense: Terms derived from climb (verb)
word: climb up
sense: Terms derived from climb (verb)
word: declimb
sense: Terms derived from climb (verb)
word: free-climb
sense: Terms derived from climb (verb)
word: go climb a tree
sense: Terms derived from climb (verb)
word: have a mountain to climb
sense: Terms derived from climb (verb)
word: lead climb
sense: Terms derived from climb (verb)
word: monkey-no-climb
sense: Terms derived from climb (verb)
word: mountain to climb
sense: Terms derived from climb (verb)
word: overclimb
sense: Terms derived from climb (verb)
word: rock-climb
sense: Terms derived from climb (verb)
word: step climb
sense: Terms derived from climb (verb)
word: unclimbed
sense: Terms derived from climb (verb)
word: upclimb