climb

[ klahym ]

/ klaɪm /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR climb ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used without object)

to go up or ascend, especially by using the hands and feet or feet only: to climb up a ladder.

to rise slowly by or as if by continued effort: The car laboriously climbed to the top of the mountain.

to ascend or rise: The plane climbed rapidly and we were soon at 35,000 feet. Temperatures climbed into the 80s yesterday.

to slope upward: The road climbs steeply up to the house.

to ascend by twining or by means of tendrils, adhesive tissues, etc., as a plant: The ivy climbed to the roof.

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.

to ascend in prominence, fortune, etc.: From lowly beginnings he climbed to the highest office in the land.

verb (used with object)

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.

to go to the top of and over: The prisoners climbed the wall and escaped.

noun

a climbing; an ascent by climbing: It was a long climb to the top of the hill.

a place to be climbed: That peak is quite a climb.

Verb Phrases

climb down,

to descend, especially by using both hands and feet.
to retreat, as from an indefensible opinion or position: He was forced to climb down from his untenable position.

climb the walls. wall(def 15).

Nearby words

climatic zone, climatize, climatology, climax, climax community, climb, climb down, climb indicator, climb on the bandwagon, climb the walls, climb-down

Origin of climb

before 1000; Middle English climben, Old English climban; cognate with Dutch, German klimmen; akin to clamber

ANTONYMS FOR climb

1, 8 descend.

10 descent.

SEE MORE ANTONYMS FOR climb ON THESAURUS.COM

Related forms

climb·a·ble, adjectivehalf-climb·ing, adjectivenon·climb·a·ble, adjectivenon·climb·ing, adjective

re·climb, verb (used with object), re·climbed, re·climb·ing.un·climb·a·ble, adjectiveun·climbed, adjectiveun·climb·ing, adjective

Can be confused

climb clime

Synonym study

8. 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.

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

Examples from the Web for climb

The pilot asked air-traffic control for permission to climb from 32,000 to 38,000 feet to avoid the bad weather.
Wreckage, Bodies of AirAsia Crash Found|Lennox Samuels|December 30, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Make a batch of these rum balls, climb into a onesie, and let your favorite movie do the rest.
Carla Hall’s Christmas Day Treat: Rum Balls|Carla Hall|December 25, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Republicans have the highest hill to climb but greatest opportunity.
Is This the Beginning of the End for Blacks and Dems?|Keli Goff|November 3, 2014|DAILY BEAST
It took you quite a while to climb the Hollywood mountain, so to speak.
David Oyelowo on Playing Martin Luther King Jr., Ebola Fears, and Race in Hollywood|Marlow Stern|October 15, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Until the epidemic is brought under control, the CDC predicts the numbers will continue to climb at that rate.
Why Isn't Silicon Valley Doing More to Fight Ebola?|Abby Haglage|October 8, 2014|DAILY BEAST
It is worth while to climb up this last flight of the old broken stair.
Naples Past and Present|Arthur H. Norway
"They look all right to me," said he, as he started to climb up on the Big Rock.
The Adventures of Jerry Muskrat|Thornton W. Burgess
What did the farmer's wife say when she saw Betty climb into the nest?
Dick and His Cat and Other Tales|Various
They are not allowed to quit the ground and climb the heights.
The Life of the Spider|J. Henri Fabre
Love is the ladder by which we climb up to the likeness of God.
Leaves of Life|Margaret Bird Steinmetz

British Dictionary definitions for climb

climb

/ (klaɪm) /

verb (mainly intr)

(also tr often foll by up) to go up or ascend (stairs, a mountain, etc)

(often foll by along) to progress with difficultyto climb along a ledge

to rise to a higher point or intensitythe temperature climbed

to incline or slope upwardsthe road began to climb

to ascend in social position

(of plants) to grow upwards by twining, using tendrils or suckers, etc

informal (foll by into) to put (on) or get (into)

to be a climber or mountaineer

noun

the act or an instance of climbing

a place or thing to be climbed, esp a route in mountaineering

Related forms

Related adjective: scansorial

Derived Forms

climbable, adjective

Word Origin for climb

Old English climban; related to Old Norse klembra to squeeze, Old High German climban to clamber

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