▪ I. † clamber, v.1 Obs.
[app. a. ON. klambra to clamp or pinch together (Vigf.) app. a frequentative deriv. of *klambjan to press or squeeze, mentioned under clam n.1 Mod.Ger. has, from the same source, klammern, to make fast with a clamp, constrict.]
To mass or cluster together.
| c 1340 Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 801 So mony pynakle payntet watz poudred ay quere, Among þe castel carnelez, clambred so þik, þat pared out of papure purely hit semed. Ibid. 1721 As alle þe clamberande clyffes hade clatered on hepes. |
▪ II. clamber, v.2
(ˈklæmbə(r))
Forms: 5–7 clambre, 5–6 clamer, 6–7 clammer, 4– clamber.
[In 15th c. clambre-n, clamer-en. This appears to be a derivative of climb v. (pa. tense, ME. clamb, clam); an equivalent climber v. was in use in 16–17th c. Cf. the relation of wander to wend, wind, of spatter, sputter, to spit, etc. The general 16–17th c. form clammer also associates itself with climb with silent b. It can hardly be connected (in English) with clamber v.1, though they prob. go back in different ways to the same source: see note to clam n.1 In German klammer, ‘clam, clamp, hold-fast’, etc., had formerly the sense ‘clutch, claw’; thence a derivative vb. ‘to clutch, seize with claws’ comes naturally; sich klammern is actually used in the sense ‘hook oneself on, cling firmly’; clammer or clamber up = ‘get up by catching hold with claws’ would be a natural extension. But links are wanting: klammer ‘claw’ is only MHG., clamber up only English, and known only since 15th c.]
1. intr. To climb by catching hold with hands and feet; to creep or crawl up (or down); to climb with difficulty and effort.
| c 1430 Bk. Hawkyng in Rel. Ant. I. 299 When he [the young hawk] begynneth to clambre upon bowys use hym ever more to hackyng. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 79 Clameryn [1499 or crepyn], repto. 1530 Palsgr. 485/2, I clamer or clymme up upon a tree or any suche thyng, je grippe. 1591 Harington Orl. Fur. xix. xx. (R.), He clamer'd up upon the shepheards horse. 1596 Shakes. Merch. V. ii. v. 31 When you heare the drum..Clamber not you vp to the casements then. 1598 Florio, Aggrappare..to clime, to clammer. 1611 Ibid., Franáre, to clammer vp any slippery or broken place. 1631 Weever Anc. Fun. Mon. 45 He was clammering ouer a wall. 1707 Farquhar Beaux' Strat. ii. i, Leaping of Ditches, and clambring over Stiles. 1835 W. Irving Tour Prairies 293 He clambered into a tree. 1882 M. E. Braddon Mt. Royal III. i. 14 A dangerous kind of place..to go clambering about with a gun. |
b. trans.; cf. climb.
| 1598 R. Grenewey Tacitus' Ann. ii. iv. (1622) 38 Some cowardly fleeing away, sought to clamber the tops of trees. 1607 Shakes. Cor. ii. i. 225 The Kitchin Malkin..Clambring the Walls to eye him. 1775 Johnson Western Isl. Wks. X. 418 They can..clamber the mountain. 1807–8 W. Irving Salmag. (1824) 134 Worthy hodmen, clambering a ladder. |
2. intr. Of plants: To climb by means of tendrils, etc. (Also trans. as in 1 b.)
| 1601 Holland Pliny xix. v. (R.), Gladly they [cucumbers] would be clambering upon walls, and climbing up to the house roof, if they can meet with any rough places to take hold by. 1864 D. Mitchell Sev. Stor. 302 Vines clambered over the window. 1887 Fenn This Man's Wife I. ii. vi. 215 This was clambered, surmounted, and almost completely hidden by clusters of small blossoms. |
3. fig. To climb or struggle (up) into a position of eminence; to attain with effort to.
| 1576 Fleming Panoplie Ep. 193 Thou knowest by what craftie collusion he hath clammered up to the throne of tyrannie. a 1593 H. Smith Wks. (1867) II. 88 Some clamber to heaven by merits, some by angels, some by penance, and some by pardons. 1664 H. More Myst. Iniq. 438 His clambering into Imperial Power. |
4. transf. Of a building, or anything rising in the air: To rise or ascend heavily, irregularly, or steeply, as if ‘struggling upward’.
| c 1611 Chapman Iliad xiii. 561 Jove..will unbuild your towr's that clamber so, For ravishing my goods, and wife. 1852 Hawthorne Wonder-Bk., Chimæra (1879) 211 Three spires of black smoke..clambered sullenly into the atmosphere. 1858 ― Fr. & It. Jrnls. (1872) II. 164 A tall palace of gray, time-worn stone clambered skyward. 1864 Tennyson En. Ard. 60 Halfway up The narrow street that clamber'd toward the mill. |
▪ III. clamber v.3
var. form of clamour v.2
▪ IV. clamber, n.
(ˈklæmbə(r))
[f. clamber v.2]
An act of clambering.
| 1818 Keats Let. 9 Apr. (1958) I. 268, I had a fine Clamber over the rocks. 1850 Mrs. Gaskell Let. 25 Aug. (1966) 123 A drive along the level road.., then a regular clamber up a steep lane. 1878 Browning La Saisiaz 45 Roughness of the long rock-clamber. 1883 V. Lee in Mag. Art Nov. 3/2 This clamber up the water-courses took a long time. |