Climb Meaning
/ˈklaɪ̯m/Definition, CEFR level A2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
verbTo ascend; rise; to go up.
verbTo ascend; rise; to go up., To move to a higher position on a chart or hierarchy.
Sentence Examples
It is difficult for you to climb to the mountaintop.
A bear can climb a tree.
They decided to climb the mountain early in the morning.
CEFR Practice Quiz
They decided to ____ the steep mountain despite the heavy rain.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
It took us several hours to ____ to the top of the steep mountain.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English climben, clymben, from Old English climban (“to climb”), from Proto-West Germanic *klimban, from Proto-Germanic *klimbaną (“to climb, go up by clinging”), believed to be a nasalised variant of Proto-Germanic *klibaną, *klibāną (“to stick, cleave”), from Proto-Indo-European *gley- (“to stick”). Cognate with West Frisian klimme (“to climb”), Dutch klimmen (“to climb”), German klimmen (“to climb”), Old Norse klembra (“to squeeze”), Icelandic klifra (“to climb”). Related to clamber. See also clay, glue.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Black vapours climb aloft, and cloud the day."
— 1697, Virgil, “The Seventh Book of the Æneis”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:
"Looking up suddenly, I found mine eyes / Confronted with the minster's vast repose. / Silent and gray as forest-leaguered cliff / Left inland by the ocean's slow retreat, / […] / Remembering shocks of surf that clomb and fell, / Spume-sliding down the baffled decuman, […]"
— 1869 December (indicated as 1870 January), James Russell Lowell, “The Cathedral”, in James Thomas Fields, editor, The Atlantic Monthly: A Magazine of Literature, Science, Art, and Politics, volume XXV, number CXLVII, Boston, Mass.: Fields, Osgood, & Co., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 5:
"So we continue climbing to the saddle of the Kleine Scheidegg, where ahead there comes into view the wide expanse of the Grindelwald valley, backed by the snowy crown of the Wetterhorn."
— 1960 December, Voyageur, “The Mountain Railways of the Bernese Oberland”, in Trains Illustrated, page 752:
"After Bridge of Orchy, the line climbs steeply into the wild country of Rannoch Moor. The railway builders chose a different route across the moor from the road - we are completely on our own up here."
— 2023 November 29, Paul Clifton, “West is best in the Highlands”, in RAIL, number 997, page 39:
"Other Hooverian devices become familiar too. Characters often have names that are so obscure they barely seem like real names (Ryle, Lowen, Chastin, Atlas, Crew) but might wind up climbing the baby name list — now you know why — in a few years’ time."
— 2023 July 6, Pamela Paul, “What’s the Story With Colleen Hoover?”, in The New York Times:
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CEFR Practice Quiz
They decided to ____ the steep mountain despite the heavy rain.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
It took us several hours to ____ to the top of the steep mountain.