climb
Americanverb (used without object)
-
to go up or ascend, especially by using the hands and feet or feet only.
She climbed up the ladder.
- Antonyms:
- descend
-
to rise slowly by or as if by continued effort.
The car climbed laboriously to the top of the mountain.
-
to ascend or rise.
The plane climbed rapidly and we were soon at 35,000 feet.
Temperatures climbed into the 80s yesterday.
-
to slope upward.
The road climbs steeply up to the house.
-
(of a plant) to ascend by twining or by means of tendrils, adhesive tissues, etc..
The ivy climbed to the roof.
-
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.
-
to ascend in prominence, fortune, etc..
From lowly beginnings he climbed to the highest office in the land.
verb (used with object)
-
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.
- Antonyms:
- descend
-
to go to the top of and over.
The prisoners climbed the wall and escaped.
noun
-
a climbing; an ascent by climbing.
It was a long climb to the top of the hill.
- Antonyms:
- descent
-
a place to be climbed.
That peak is quite a climb.
verb phrase
-
climb down
-
to descend, especially by using both hands and feet.
She climbed down from the treehouse and went to wash up for supper.
-
Chiefly British. to retreat from a policy, opinion, position in a debate, etc..
He climbed down from that argument once he saw that it was based on incorrect data.
-
-
climb the walls to become tense or frantic.
After a week stuck inside the house, the kids were climbing the walls.
verb
-
to go up or ascend (stairs, a mountain, etc)
-
(often foll by along) to progress with difficulty
to climb along a ledge
-
to rise to a higher point or intensity
the temperature climbed
-
to incline or slope upwards
the road began to climb
-
to ascend in social position
-
(of plants) to grow upwards by twining, using tendrils or suckers, etc
-
informal (foll by into) to put (on) or get (into)
-
to be a climber or mountaineer
noun
-
the act or an instance of climbing
-
a place or thing to be climbed, esp a route in mountaineering
Related Words
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.
Other Word Forms
- climbable adjective
- half-climbing adjective
- nonclimbable adjective
- nonclimbing adjective
- reclimb verb (used with object)
- unclimbable adjective
- unclimbed adjective
- unclimbing adjective
Etymology
Origin of climb
First recorded before 1000; Middle English climben, Old English climban; cognate with Dutch, German klimmen; akin to clamber
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
There, chimps climb into the trees to harvest fruits and often prefer several types of figs.
From Science Daily
Silver prices climbed to all-time highs on Monday, as expectations that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates further this month and persistent concerns over global supply tightness sparked a fresh rally.
Yields on U.K. government bonds climbed along with their Japanese and eurozone counterparts.
German inflation climbed in November, despite French inflation holding steady and inflation in Spain and Italy inching lower.
The death toll in the floods which struck Indonesia last week has now climbed to more than 500, with rescue workers still battling to reach affected areas.
From BBC
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
