climb

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[edit] English

[edit] Etymology

From Middle English climben, from Old English climban (“to climb”), from Proto-Germanic *klimbanan (“to climb, go up by clinging”), believed to be a nasalised variant of Proto-Germanic *klibanan, *klibajanan (“to stick, cleave”), from Proto-Indo-European *gley- (“to stick”). Cognate with Dutch klimmen (“to climb”), German klimmen (“to climb”), Old Norse klembra (“to squeeze”), Icelandic klifra (“to climb”). Related to clamber. See also clay, glue.

[edit] Pronunciation

[edit] Verb

climb (third-person singular simple present climbs, present participle climbing, simple past climbed, clomb (archaic) or clumb (archaic), past participle climbed, clumb (archaic) or clomb (archaic))

  1. (intransitive) To ascend; rise; to go up.
    Prices climbed steeply.
  2. (transitive) To mount; to move upwards on.
    They climbed the mountain.
    Climbing a tree
  3. (transitive) To scale; to get to the top of something.
    • 2010 May 22, David Harrison, “American boy, 13, is youngest person to climb Everest”, Daily Telegraph online:
      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.
  4. (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.
  5. (intransitive) to practise the sport of climbing
  6. (intransitive) to jump high
    • 2010 December 28, Paul Fletcher, “Man City 4 - 0 Aston Villa”, BBC:
      The defender climbed majestically at the near post to convert Johnson's corner.
    • 2008 September 13, lsullivan mark orders, “Ospreys Glasgow Magners League”, South Wales Evening Post:
      As the game moved towards injury time, the Ospreys forced a line-out which Jonathan Thomas climbed high to take.
    • 2001 December 29, Derick Allsop, “Bolton's nine men hit back to steal a point”, Daily Telegraph online:
      Four minutes of stoppage time were virtually up when Ricketts climbed to head in the equaliser from substitute Nicky Southall's centre.
  7. To move to a higher position on the social ladder.
  8. (botany) Of plants, to grow upwards by clinging to something.

[edit] Derived terms

[edit] Synonyms

(get to the top of):

[edit] Translations

to ascend, to go up
to mount, to move upwards on
to scale
to move by using the hands and feet
to practice the sport of climbing
to jump high
of plants: to grow upwards by clinging to something

[edit] Noun

Wikipedia has an article on:

Wikipedia climb (plural climbs)

  1. 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.
  2. The act of getting to somewhere more elevated.
    • 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.
  3. An upwards struggle
    • 1998 September 30, AP, “Worst May Lie Ahead For Asia, Report Warns”, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
      After a decade of prosperity, millions of Asians are likely to be pushed into poverty, and the climb out of poverty will stall for millions of others

[edit] Derived terms

[edit] Translations

an act of climbing
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