climb

American  

[klahym] / klaɪm /

verb (used without object)

• climbs,
  present (3rd person singular)
• climbed,
  past participle,  past
• climbing
  present participle

1. to go up or ascend, especially by using the hands and feet or feet only.

   She climbed up the ladder.

   Antonyms:

   descend

2. to rise slowly by or as if by continued effort.

   The car climbed laboriously 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. (of a plant) to ascend by twining or by means of tendrils, adhesive tissues, etc..

   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.

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verb (used with object)

• climbs,
  present (3rd person singular)
• climbed,
  past participle,  past
• climbing
  present participle

1. 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

2. to go to the top of and over.

   The prisoners climbed the wall and escaped.

noun

• climbs
  plural

1. a climbing; an ascent by climbing.

   It was a long climb to the top of the hill.

   Antonyms:

   descent

2. a place to be climbed.

   That peak is quite a climb.

verb phrase

1. climb down

   1. to descend, especially by using both hands and feet.

      She climbed down from the treehouse and went to wash up for supper.

   2. 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.

2. climb the walls to become tense or frantic.

   After a week stuck inside the house, the kids were climbing the walls.

climb British  

/ klaɪm /

verb

1. 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

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noun

1. the act or an instance of climbing

2. a place or thing to be climbed, esp a route in mountaineering

Synonym Usage

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

Derived Forms

• reclimb
  verb (used with object)
• climbable
  adjective
• half-climbing
  adjective
• nonclimbable
  adjective
• nonclimbing
  adjective
• unclimbable
  adjective
• unclimbed
  adjective
• unclimbing
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• climbs
  plural

Participles

• climbing
  present
• climbed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• climb
  simple
• climbs
  simple
• have climbed
  perfect
• has climbed
  perfect
• am climbing
  progressive
• are climbing
  progressive
• is climbing
  progressive
• have been climbing
  perfect progressive
• has been climbing
  perfect progressive

Past

• climbed
  simple
• had climbed
  perfect
• was climbing
  progressive
• were climbing
  progressive
• had been climbing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will climb
  simple
• will have climbed
  perfect
• will be climbing
  progressive
• will have been climbing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of climb

First recorded before 1000; Middle English climben, Old English climban; cognate with Dutch, German klimmen; akin to clamber

Explanation

To climb is to go higher. When you ascend a mountain, you climb it, and when a song rises in popularity, it climbs the charts. To climb something generally takes hard work, which is clear when you watch a toddler climb a jungle gym or a mountaineer climb a sheer rock wall. You can also climb things metaphorically, like when a soldier climbs the ranks from corporal to major. Prices can climb too, when they get higher, and you can climb a social ladder when you meet well-connected people at parties. The Germanic root is klimban, "go up by clinging."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

climb climbs climbed climbing

The east and west regions of Seoul remained under the highest-level heat alert Wednesday, issued when the heat index is forecast to reach 38C or temperatures are expected to climb to 39C or higher.

From Barron's ● Aug. 5, 2026

Trapping Sophie in a crone’s body and making her realize how much harder it is to cross rolling hills and climb stairs gives her a new appreciation for everything she’s been taking for granted.

From Salon ● Aug. 4, 2026

Calmer winds and cooler temperatures assisted fire crews in their battle against the Spokane blazes Monday, but temperature are anticipated to climb back into the 90s by Wednesday.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2026

Even as yields climb and AI skepticism lingers, the bull market has a sturdy tailwind.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026

As I climb the deck stairs, there’s a thud somewhere out in the yard.

From "Keeping Pace" by Laurie Morrison

Every morning, she wakes up and climbs up to her damaged apartment to bathe, change clothes and get ready for work.

From Barron's ● Aug. 4, 2026

Some are very short — the Manitou Incline in Colorado is less than one mile long but climbs 1,900 feet and begins at 7,000 feet of elevation.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 3, 2026

While fishing a canal, I spot an otter as it emerges from the water and climbs onto the opposite bank, clutching a writhing iguana in its paws and then diving back in.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026

Whereas during the third week of earnings, when the largest technology companies usually report, the S&P 500’s outlook for two years ahead climbs by almost 2% on average, Greenebaum said.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 20, 2026

And this time, slowly, reluctantly, she climbs up the steps to the bridge.

From "The Light in Hidden Places" by Sharon Cameron

Lilly’s total revenue climbed 48% to $23.0 billion, up from $15.6 billion in the same three months a year ago, and handily beating a FactSet estimate of $20.7 billion.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 5, 2026

Quarterly revenue climbed 12% to $14.19 billion, compared with Wall Street models for $14.24 billion.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026

That optimism filtered through to Asia, where Seoul -- which has been at the forefront of extreme volatility in the tech sector over the past month -- climbed more than four percent.

From Barron's ● Aug. 5, 2026

At the time, K2, the world's second highest peak, was the only one of the eight-thousanders not yet climbed in winter.

From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026

“He grew a beanstalk all the way up to the heavens; then he climbed it.”

From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls

Among them was Nirmal Purja, also known as Nims, a British-Nepali climber most known for climbing the world's 14 tallest peaks in just over six months.

From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2026

After climbing steadily earlier in the month, yields on long-dated Treasury bonds shot higher during the final week of July.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 3, 2026

To submit an FKT, the route must be at least five miles long or have at least 500 feet of climbing.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 3, 2026

Purja, who served with Britain's Brigade of Gurkhas before joining the Special Boat Squadron of the Royal Marines, broke multiple climbing records since becoming a full-time mountaineer and tour guide.

From Barron's ● Aug. 2, 2026

Elliot hesitated for a second before finally climbing into the chair next to mine, resigned.

From "Glitch" by Laura Martin

Related Words

• ascend
• clamber
• go up
• mount
• rise
• scale
• soar
• top