▪ I. climbing, vbl. n.
(ˈklaɪmɪŋ)
[f. climb v. + -ing1.]
1. The action of the vb. climb.
| 1375 Barbour Bruce x. 595 The crag wes hye..And the clymbyng rycht pereluss. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 293 Ascencyon or clymmyng in the tree of grace. 1593 Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, ii. i. 100 [He] bought his climbing very deare. 1855 Tennyson Maud i. i. xviii, Maud with her venturous climbings and tumbles. |
2. Cat-burgling. Also
attrib. Thieves' slang.
Cf. climb n. 3.
| 1900 ‘Flynt’ & Walton Powers that Prey 194 You'se too young to do climbin'. 1907 [see cat-burglar]. 1965 New Statesman 30 July 152/1 The climbing game must be good. |
3. attrib. and
Comb. (Of aircraft)
climbing angle,
climbing speed,
climbing turn, etc. (
cf. climb v. 5 a and
n. 2);
climbing frame, a structure, usually of pipes joined together, for children to climb on.
| 1933 Jrnl. R. Aeronaut. Soc. XXXVII. 2 An effective landing run of at least 2,500 ft. is required in eight directions..taking the gliding and climbing angle as 10 : 1. |
| 1929 S. Isaacs Nursery Years vi. 68 A firmly built wooden frame with horizontal rods to climb on and hang from... Several of these things, such as the see-saw, the ladders, and the climbing frame are more easily arranged for by the Nursery School. 1960 Guardian 24 Feb. 11/2 A climbing frame for the enterprising young. |
| 1913 C. Grahame-White Aviation 199 The Cody biplane..was able to ascend from the ground at a ‘climbing’ speed of 285 feet per minute. 1935 C. Day Lewis Time to Dance 57 It is using currents of air to waft your wings And adverse ranges for test of climbing-speed. 1935 P. W. F. Mills Pract. Flying vi. 91 Climbing turns do not normally permit of great steepness. |
▪ II. climbing, ppl. a. (
ˈklaɪmɪŋ)
[f. as prec. + -ing2.] a. That climbs, in the senses of the
vb.| 1561 Norton & Sackv. Gorboduc ii. ii, Gredy lust doth raise the clymbynge minde. 1591 Shakes. 1 Hen. VI, iv. ii. 11 Leane Famine, quartering Steele, and Climbing Fire. 1642 J. Eaton Honey-c. Free Justif. 62 This climbing and presuming spirit. 1801 Southey Thalaba iii. vi, The dews had ceased to steam Toward the climbing Sun. 1882 Vines Sachs' Bot. 863 The interpretation of the phenomena of climbing plants. |
b. in many names of plants, as
climbing buck-wheat (
Polygonum Convolvulus),
climbing fern (
Lygodium palmatum),
climbing fumitory (
Corydalis claviculata),
climbing palm (
Desmoncus macracanthos),
climbing rose,
climbing sailor (
Linaria Cymbalaria), etc.
| 1670 Ray Catal., Pl. Climbing Fumitory. 1818 A. Eaton Man. Bot. (ed. 2) 311 [The] climbing fern..generally climbs to the height of about 3 or 4 feet. 1836 Eaton Man. Bot. (ed. 7) 489 Rosa rubifolia, climbing rose. 1863 Bates Nat. Amazon xi. (1864) 338 Jacitara, or the wood of the climbing palm tree. 1864 [see rose n. 3 a]. 1938 J. K. Small Ferns Southeastern States 339 Besides climbing-fern, it is known as creeping-fern, Hartford-fern, and Windsor-fern. 1956 Dict. Gardening (R. Hort. Soc.) (ed. 2) IV. 1825/1 Climbing Roses for Pergolas, Fences, and Walls are provided by several of the groups of garden roses. |
c. Special combs., as
climbing-boy, a chimney-sweep's boy formerly employed to climb chimneys (now illegal);
climbing-iron, an iron strapped to the boot to assist in climbing (see
climber n. 4);
climbing-perch, a fish (
Anabas scandens), found chiefly in Indian waters, and believed to have the power of ascending trees: see
anabas.
| 1785 Hanway (title) A Sentimental History of Chimney-Sweepers in London and Westminster, showing the necessity of putting them under regulations to prevent the grossest inhumanity to the *Climbing Boys. 1803 Nicholson's Jrnl. VI. 255 A machine for cleansing chimneys, without the aid of Climbing-boys. 1884 A. Lang in Harper's Mag. Nov. 895/1 A small ‘climbing boy’ being roasted to death up the chimney. |
| 1857 Hughes Tom Brown ii. iii. (1871) 259 Fitting new straps on to his *climbing-irons. |
| 1872 Carpenter Anim. Phys. vi. The Anabas or *climbing-perch of Tranquebar which climbs bushes and trees in search of its prey. |