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

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

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

Conjugated Forms

Present

• have climbed
  perfect
• has climbed
  perfect 3rd person singular
• have been climbing
  perfect progressive
• is climbing
  progressive 3rd person singular
• has been climbing
  perfect progressive 3rd person singular
• am climbing
  progressive 1st person singular
• are climbing
  progressive
• climbing
  participle
• climbs
  singular 3rd person

Past

• had climbed
  perfect
• had been climbing
  perfect progressive
• were climbing
  progressive plural
• was climbing
  progressive singular
• climbed
  participle
• climbed
  simple

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

They deliver powerful bursts of thrust that allow spacecraft to quickly accelerate, decelerate, climb, descend, or change position.

From Science Daily • Jun. 10, 2026

The yearly rate of inflation is projected to climb to 4.2% from 3.8% in the prior month, reaching the highest level since May 2023.

From MarketWatch • Jun. 9, 2026

Revenue from the government, which totaled around $4 billion in 2025, is set to sharply climb over the next few years.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 8, 2026

“There’s still a tremendous amount of skepticism, which is a good thing for investors because markets tend to climb a wall of worry,” she added.

From Barron's • Jun. 8, 2026

"We must climb the Mountain and find out what it is," Bronden went on.

From "Rowan of Rin" by Emily Rodda

Related Words

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