climber
Americannoun
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climbers
plural
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a person or thing that climbs.
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a climbing plant.
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a device to assist in climbing, as a climbing iron.
noun
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a person or thing that climbs
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a plant that lacks rigidity and grows upwards by twining, scrambling, or clinging with tendrils and suckers
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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:
The body of a missing climber was found, covered in snow, on Mt.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 27, 2026
Once conditions improved, a CHP helicopter took an Inyo County search-and-rescue team to Iceberg Lake, where they “navigated snow and ice to reach the climber, whose remains were covered in snow.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 27, 2026
Chin’s conversations with cellist Yo-Yo Ma, surfer Kelly Slater, conflict photographer Lynsey Addario, climber Alex Honnold and others explore what it takes to forge a distinct path.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026
Pakistani mountaineer Sohail Sakhi's body was found a few days later, as was the body of American climber Mallory Geis.
From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026
And while they were at it, the government ministers jacked up the permit fee once again—this time to $70,000 for up to seven climbers, plus another $10,000 for each additional climber.
From "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer
Unlike some climbers, Krakauer can wax poetic while staying honest about the stakes.
From Salon ● Nov. 1, 2026
So he then deployed climbers from Achill Island Coast Guard's cliff rescue team who abseiled down the cliff to pluck the couple out of the rising tide.
From BBC ● Oct. 30, 2026
Once they were both out of immediate risk, the climbers used ropes to separately haul both casualties a further 150m to the clifftop.
From BBC ● Oct. 30, 2026
Its title refers to the less-traversed north face of the mountain, but also to the way Everest can feel, to some climbers, like a portal to another plane of existence.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 20, 2026
We were like mountain climbers roped together, Braque said later.
From "The Mona Lisa Vanishes" by Nicholas Day
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
