clamber

[klam-ber, klam-er]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR clamber ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with or without object)

to climb, using both feet and hands; climb with effort or difficulty.

noun

an act or instance of clambering.

RELATED WORDS

climb, scale, scramble

Origin of clamber

1325–75; Middle English clambren, equivalent to clamb- (akin to climb) + -r- -er⁶ + -en infinitive suffix

Related formsclam·ber·er, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for clamber

Contemporary Examples of clamber

Just gaining entry was difficult, and in many cases firefighters had to clamber up and lower themselves through windows.
Amazing Grace in the Bronx: Inside the Metro-North Train-Wreck Rescue
Michael Daly
December 2, 2013
We get down on all fours and clamber along a 40-foot fallen log.
Exercising Like a Caveman: A.J. Jacobs Gets Primal
A.J. Jacobs
April 10, 2012

Historical Examples of clamber

I then proposed we should clamber aft, and try to get the helm up.
Ned Myers
James Fenimore Cooper
You can clamber on the snowdrift, Peony, and reach them easily.
Boys and Girls Bookshelf (Vol 2 of 17)
Various
She was trying to clamber through a trellis of iron and splintered wood.
In a Little Town
Rupert Hughes
"Very well," he agreed, and he permitted her to help him clamber up into the saddle.
Bloom of Cactus
Robert Ames Bennet
Let us clamber over the log-fence and get into the clearing.
The Knickerbocker, or New-York Monthly Magazine, May 1844
Various

British Dictionary definitions for clamber

clamber

verb

(usually foll by up, over, etc) to climb (something) awkwardly, esp by using both hands and feet

noun

a climb performed in this manner

Derived Formsclamberer, noun

Word Origin for clamber

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

"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.