clamber
[klam-ber, klam-er]
- to climb, using both feet and hands; climb with effort or difficulty.
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- an act or instance of clambering.
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Origin of clamber
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for clamber
Contemporary Examples
Just gaining entry was difficult, and in many cases firefighters had to clamber up and lower themselves through windows.
We get down on all fours and clamber along a 40-foot fallen log.
Historical Examples
I then proposed we should clamber aft, and try to get the helm up.
Ned MyersJames Fenimore Cooper
You can clamber on the snowdrift, Peony, and reach them easily.
She was trying to clamber through a trellis of iron and splintered wood.
In a Little TownRupert Hughes
"Very well," he agreed, and he permitted her to help him clamber up into the saddle.
Bloom of CactusRobert Ames Bennet
Let us clamber over the log-fence and get into the clearing.
clamber
- (usually foll by up, over, etc) to climb (something) awkwardly, esp by using both hands and feet
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- a climb performed in this manner
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Word Origin
C15: probably a variant of climb
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for clamber
v.
"to climb with difficulty using hands and feet," late 14c., possibly frequentative of Middle English climben "to climb" (preterit clamb), or akin to Old Norse klembra "to hook (oneself) on." Related: Clambered; clambering.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper