climb
English
Etymology
From Middle English climben, from Old English climban (“to climb”), 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.
Pronunciation
Audio (US) (file) - IPA(key): /klaɪm/, [kˡlaɪm]
Audio (file) - Rhymes: -aɪm
Verb
climb (third-person singular simple present climbs, present participle climbing, simple past climbed or (archaic) clomb, past participle climbed or (archaic) clumb)
- (intransitive) To ascend; rise; to go up.
- Prices climbed steeply.
- Dryden
- Black vapours climb aloft, and cloud the day.
- (transitive) To mount; to move upwards on.
- They climbed the mountain.
- Climbing a tree
- (transitive) To scale; to get to the top of something.
- (transitive) To move (especially up and down something) by gripping with the hands and using the feet.
- 1900, James Frazer, The Golden Bough Chapter 65
- 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.
- 1900, L. Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
- 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.
- 2008, Tony Atkins, Dragonhawk - the Turning
- Cutter and Bolan climbed around the furniture and piled into the back of the truck.
- 1900, James Frazer, The Golden Bough Chapter 65
- (intransitive) to practise the sport of climbing
- (intransitive) to jump high
- To move to a higher position on the social ladder.
- (botany) Of plants, to grow upwards by clinging to something.
Usage notes
In the past, the forms clomb and clumb were encountered as simple past and past participle forms; these forms are now archaic or dialectal.
Derived terms
Translations
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.
Noun
climb (plural climbs)
- An act of climbing.
- 2007, Nigel Shepherd, Complete Guide to Rope Techniques
- Make sure that you keep checking to see that everything remains safe throughout the climb.
- 2007, Nigel Shepherd, Complete Guide to Rope Techniques
- The act of getting to somewhere more elevated.
- 2012, July 15. Richard Williams in Guardian Unlimited, Tour de France 2012: Carpet tacks cannot force Bradley Wiggins off track
- The Mur de Péguère is a savage little climb, its last four kilometres a narrow tunnel of trees and excited spectators urging on the straining riders.
- 1999, B. Keith Jones, The Roomie Do Me Blues
- I guess the room wasn't so bad, except for the climb to get there. The stairs were destined to be a serious health hazard.
- 2012, July 15. Richard Williams in Guardian Unlimited, Tour de France 2012: Carpet tacks cannot force Bradley Wiggins off track
- An upwards struggle
Derived terms
Translations
Italian
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /klai̯m(b)/, [kl̺äi̯m(b)]