climb

[klahym] /klaɪm/
verb (used without object)
1.
to go up or ascend, especially by using the hands and feet or feet only:
to climb up a ladder.
2.
to rise slowly by or as if by continued effort:
The car laboriously climbed to the top of the mountain.
3.
to ascend or rise:
The plane climbed rapidly and we were soon at 35,000 feet. Temperatures climbed into the 80s yesterday.
4.
to slope upward:
The road climbs steeply up to the house.
5.
to ascend by twining or by means of tendrils, adhesive tissues, etc., as a plant:
The ivy climbed to the roof.
6.
to proceed or move by using the hands and feet, especially on an elevated place; crawl:
to climb along a branch; to climb around on the roof.
7.
to ascend in prominence, fortune, etc.:
From lowly beginnings he climbed to the highest office in the land.
verb (used with object)
8.
to ascend, go up, or get to the top of, especially by the use of the hands and feet or feet alone or by continuous or strenuous effort:
to climb a rope; to climb the stairs; to climb a mountain.
9.
to go to the top of and over:
The prisoners climbed the wall and escaped.
noun
10.
a climbing; an ascent by climbing:
It was a long climb to the top of the hill.
11.
a place to be climbed:
That peak is quite a climb.
Verb phrases
12.
climb down,
  1. to descend, especially by using both hands and feet.
  2. to retreat, as from an indefensible opinion or position:
    He was forced to climb down from his untenable position.
13.
climb the walls. wall (def 7).
Origin
before 1000; Middle English climben, Old English climban; cognate with Dutch, German klimmen; akin to clamber
Related forms
climbable, adjective
half-climbing, adjective
nonclimbable, adjective
nonclimbing, adjective
reclimb, verb (used with object), reclimbed, reclimbing.
unclimbable, adjective
unclimbed, adjective
unclimbing, adjective
Can be confused
climb, clime (see synonym study at the current entry)
Synonyms
8. Climb, ascend, mount, scale imply a moving upward. To climb is to make one's way upward, often with effort: to climb a mountain. Ascend, in its literal meaning (“to go up”), is general, but it now usually suggests a gradual or stately movement, with or without effort, often to a considerable degree of altitude: to ascend the heights; to ascend the Himalayas. Mount may be interchangeable with ascend, but also suggests climbing on top of or astride of: to mount a platform, a horse. Scale, a more literary word, implies difficult or hazardous climbing up or over something: to scale a summit.
Antonyms
1, 8. descend. 10. descent.
Examples from the web for climb
  • It remains a steep climb for them to move up in the corporate world.
  • Even as you climb you are turning past the overlook.
  • The goal was to climb the league tables by expanding in areas such as structured credit and commodities.
  • He gets his first name because he likes to climb rocks.
  • Let's climb up tall things and see off into the horizon.
  • The question, then, is how the sector might climb out of its rut.
  • The ability of real geckos to climb walls and walk across ceilings has long fascinated people.
  • Talented executives need mentors to help them climb the ladder.
  • Kids play at our house all the time and currently climb the tree.
  • It takes a full day to climb up the side of the volcano.
British Dictionary definitions for climb

climb

/klaɪm/
verb (mainly intransitive)
1.
(also transitive) often foll by up. to go up or ascend (stairs, a mountain, etc)
2.
(often foll by along) to progress with difficulty: to climb along a ledge
3.
to rise to a higher point or intensity: the temperature climbed
4.
to incline or slope upwards: the road began to climb
5.
to ascend in social position
6.
(of plants) to grow upwards by twining, using tendrils or suckers, etc
7.
(informal) (foll by into) to put (on) or get (into)
8.
to be a climber or mountaineer
noun
9.
the act or an instance of climbing
10.
a place or thing to be climbed, esp a route in mountaineering
related
adjective scansorial
Derived Forms
climbable, adjective
Word Origin
Old English climban; related to Old Norse klembra to squeeze, Old High German climban to clamber
Word Origin and History for climb
v.

Old English climban "raise oneself using hands and feet; rise gradually, ascend; make an ascent of" (past tense clamb, past participle clumben, clumbe), from West Germanic *klimbanan "go up by clinging" (cf. Dutch klimmen "to climb," Old High German klimban, German klimmen). A strong verb in Old English, weak by 16c. Most other Germanic languages long ago dropped the -b. Meaning "to mount as if by climbing" is from mid-14c. Figurative sense of "rise slowly by effort" is from mid-13c. Related: Climbed; climbing.

n.

1580s, "act of climbing," from climb (v.). Meaning "an ascent by climbing" is from 1915, originally in aviation.