climber
Americannoun
-
climbers
plural
-
a person or thing that climbs.
-
a climbing plant.
-
a device to assist in climbing, as a climbing iron.
noun
-
a person or thing that climbs
-
a plant that lacks rigidity and grows upwards by twining, scrambling, or clinging with tendrils and suckers
-
short for social climber
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of climber
late Middle English word dating back to 1375–1425; see origin at climb, -er 1
Explanation
A climber is a person who hikes up steep, rocky mountains and hills. If you want to be a mountain climber, you should start with small ones before tackling Mount Everest. Climbers pull themselves up the steep, craggy sides of mountains or practice on rock walls at the gym. A person who aspires to belong to a fancier social group is another kind of climber: "He's hanging out with the rich kids again — I didn't realize he was such a climber." When you're talking about plants, a climber is anything vine-like that grows up structures: "That rose is a climber. It'll cover your fence by the end of the summer."
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.
See Examples For:
A well-known amateur rock climber who had set at least two known speed-climbing records at Yosemite National Park died in a climbing accident at Sequoia National Park last week.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026
British-Nepali climber Nirmal Purja, who led the Broad Peak expedition, was best known for speed climbing the "14 peaks"
From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026
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
The avalanche struck on Thursday, cutting off contact with the international expedition led by Purja, a 43-year-old British-Nepali climber, on Broad Peak.
From Barron's ● Aug. 2, 2026
"There are latch points all over the hull. I'll move my tether along, mountain climber style."
From "The Martian" by Andy Weir
Most climbers choose to ascend from the Nepalese side, but Morup's crew wanted to write their names into the history books as the first Indian expedition to do it from the treacherous Chinese side.
From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2026
"While today marks an important milestone, three climbers remain missing," the club said.
From Barron's ● Aug. 5, 2026
The trees drew international attention in 2017, when professional climbers from 'The Tree Projects' in Australia came to Taiwan to photograph the Three Sisters in full.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 4, 2026
Now, the U.S. is stepping into the ring, promoting a Freefly drone to challenge China’s lead in delivering supplies to climbers and carrying away the waste.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026
There were some climbers of very dubious ability on a commercial expedition led by an Englishman with undistinguished Himalayan credentials.
From "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer
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.
