clamber
Americanverb (used with or without object)
-
clambers,
present (3rd person singular)
-
clambered,
past participle, past
-
clambering
present participle
noun
verb
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
clambersimple
-
clamberssimple
-
have clamberedperfect
-
has clamberedperfect
-
am clamberingprogressive
-
are clamberingprogressive
-
is clamberingprogressive
-
have been clamberingperfect progressive
-
has been clamberingperfect progressive
Past
-
clamberedsimple
-
had clamberedperfect
-
was clamberingprogressive
-
were clamberingprogressive
-
had been clamberingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of clamber
First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English clambren, equivalent to clamb- (akin to climb ) + -r- -er 6 + -en infinitive suffix
Explanation
To clamber is to climb awkwardly. Hamlet's Ophelia was said to have been clambering on a weak branch of a willow when she met her "muddy death." It's never a good idea to clamber, let alone on weak willow branches. We associate the word clamber far more often with toddlers (than Shakespearean tragedy). Toddlers are known for naturally clumsy, ill-coordinated movements we deem cute not foolish. Suitably enough, the word comes from the delightful and long obsolete Middle English word clamb, meaning the past tense of climb, a word that has all the happy logic of a toddler's imagination.
Vocabulary lists containing clamber
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
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The Witch of Blackbird Pond
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Where the Red Fern Grows
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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:
The roar of engines fills the night air in China's Chongqing city as tourists awkwardly clamber onto gleaming motorbikes and cling to muscular drivers to star in personalised videos.
From Barron's ● Aug. 2, 2026
They also managed to clamber aboard auxiliary craft, and the blue boat took all 20 fishermen on board, crew members said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 15, 2026
Those lucky enough to snap out of psychosis and regain touch with the tangible world are now building support groups online to help others clamber out.
From Slate ● Feb. 2, 2026
"Five more minutes, and I would have left you," the pilot tells the reporters as they clamber back in, the chopper stuttering up and banking over the town's remains.
From Barron's ● Nov. 18, 2025
We clamber round trees and over roots, getting deeper into the swamp.
From "The Knife of Never Letting Go" by Patrick Ness
But the rescuer reaches Alma first, and she clambers out - unaided - from between jagged slabs of concrete and twisted metal bars.
From BBC ● Mar. 22, 2024
She dashes up the aisle or clambers over seats to meet people where they’re at.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 26, 2023
Orban is faced with economic stagnation this year and a widening budget deficit as the country clambers out of Europe's highest inflation rates that peaked above 25% in the first quarter.
From Reuters ● Nov. 10, 2023
Hafen clambers up on a rock and points to where the power line will run — marring the landscape.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 23, 2022
He clambers down the pyramid of people and hits the ground once more.
From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer
Now something of a local hero, the goat accompanied Promise to a nearby supermarket where fans clambered to take photos of the animal.
From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026
Trujillo placated the dog with peanut butter and they clambered over a wall into the Franco backyard, he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
When referee Mary Victoria Penso blew the final whistle in New Jersey, Ecuador Sebastian Beccacece clambered over the stadium barriers to celebrate with his family.
From BBC ● Jun. 26, 2026
Its use exploded, and venture capitalists clambered to invest.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 29, 2026
The shrews had all clambered hastily aboard the strange craft.
From "Redwall" by Brian Jacques
Obviously, clambering up and down the dangerously steep pass, ferrying goods on horseback or by mule or — for a few wacky, experimental months in the mid-1850s, Army camels — wasn’t workable.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 1, 2026
Next to pictures showing her and Bardella walking, holding hands, and clambering over rocks, Paris-Match waxes lyrical about a couple "reinventing courtly love – 21st Century-style".
From BBC ● Apr. 9, 2026
After clambering up three flights of a dark apartment-building stairwell, I entered Higatei, which celebrates all things awamori, an Okinawan rice-based spirit.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 25, 2025
"I feel good; a little nervous, but I think it'll be fine. We'll hold on and give it everything!" said Nina Beeler, before clambering on board Cobra, an eight-year-old Swiss Brown cow.
From Barron's ● Oct. 20, 2025
She was up instantly, clambering and working to get back up on top of the ice next to the hole.
From "Woodsong" by Gary Paulsen
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.
