▪ I. climb, v.
(klaɪm)
Pa. tense and pple. climbed (klaɪmd); arch. clomb (kləʊm).
[OE. climb-an, clamb (clǫmb), clumbon, clumben, corresp. to OHG. chlimban, MHG. klimben, klimmen, MDu., MLG., Du., LG., Ger. klimmen:—WGer. *klimban. Believed to be a nasalized form of OTeut. *klîƀan (see cleave v.2), the m being perh. originally a characteristic of the present stem, which has been extended to the other parts, and has carried the vb. from the ablaut series of î, ai, i, into that of im, am, um. Hence the sense-development ‘cleave, adhere to, get up by clinging or adhering’; for which cf. OE. cl{iacu}fan to cleave, cling, MDu. clîven to cleave, stick, also to climb, ON. kl{iacu}fa and ME. clīven to climb. In all the modern langs. the b is lost in pronunciation, and in most in spelling also; but in Eng., although climme, clime, formerly prevailed, the spelling now recognized is climb. In most of the dialects the i is short, clim; but the standard language, like east midland and eastern, has the i long (klaɪm), the vowel being lengthened before mb, app. as before nd in bind, find, etc. (But clear evidence of the long vowel has not been found before the 16th c.) The original strong inflexions also remain dialectally (notably in Sc. clim, clam, clum), but in the south, weak forms appeared already in 13th c., and prevail in 16th c. prose; no others occur in Shakes. or in the Bible of 1611. But the Elizabethan archaists affected a pa. tense and pple. clome, cloame, clōmbe, which they appear to have taken from Chaucer or Lydgate, and mistakenly pronounced with long ō. (In the ME. clomb(e, o was either short, as a variant of clamb, or more usually a graphic expedient for u before m; and in the dialects in which clom has come down the o is short.) From Spenser and his contemporaries, clōmb passed into later poetry, and occasionally appears in prose, especially in writers familiar with the strong clam, clom, or clum in dialect use.]
A. Forms.
(From the ambiguity of the spelling it is often uncertain whether climbe, clymb, climb, clyme, in 15–16th c. meant (klɪm) or (klaɪm), and whether clomb(e in 16–17th c. meant (klʌm) or (kləʊm).)
1. pres. stem. (α) 1 climb-an, 2–5 -en, 3–7 climbe, 4–6 clymbe; 3– clim, 5–6 clym, clymme, 6–7 climme, mod. dial. clim (klɪm).
| a 1000 Sal. & Sat. (Gr.) 414 Leoht..clymmað on ᵹecyndo. c 1205 Lay. 851 He lette an heh climben [c 1275 clemben]. 1297 R. Glouc. (1724) 527 Clerkes him made clim. c 1440 York Myst. xxv. 424 Ȝone tre I will go too, and in it clyme [rime hym]. 1570 Levins Manip. 131 To Climme, scandere. 1627 Drayton Agincourt (1631) 5 If we want ships, the waves to climme. 1875 Lanc. Gloss., Clim, pa. t. clom. 1875 Sussex Gloss., Clim. [So 1876 Mid. Yorkshire, and Whitby Gloss., and in all northern dialects.] 1883 Hampshire Gloss., 1888 W. Somerset Word-bk. and Berks. Gloss. |
(β) 3–4 clemb-e(n, 5 clem, clemme.
| c 1275 Lay. 851 He lette clemben an heh. 1489 Caxton Faytes of A. i. ix. 25 To clemme vp wyth cordes. Ibid. ii. xxxv. 154 Cleminge up with ladders. c 1500 Melusine 25 Clemme you vpon som tree. |
(γ) 6 clyme, 6–7 clime, 6 climbe, 6– climb (klaɪm).
| c 1500 Cocke Lorell's B. (1843) 12 Some one the shrowedes dyde clyme. 1570 B. Googe Pop. Kingd. 2 Know that none cane clime [rime deuine]. 1595 Spenser Sonn. xiii, She to heauen may clime. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 195 The Nuptial time Approaches for the stately Steed to climb. |
2. pa. tense. (α) 1–9 clamb, 3–6 clam, (5–6 clamme, 6 clame). pl. 4–5 clamben.
| 1297 R. Glouc. (1724) 333 Þe kyng by an laddre to þe ssyp clam. a 1300 Cursor M. 6361 He clamb mont synai. c 1384 Chaucer H. Fame iii. 1061 And clamben vp on other fast. 1481 Caxton Reynard xxxii. (Arb.) 87 Tho clamme he vpon on hye tree. 1525 Ld. Berners Froiss. II. li. 183 The men of armes..clame vp the dykes. 1530 Tindale Pract. Prelates Wks. 1849 II. 256 Then the deacons..clamb up thereunto. 1561 Norton & Sackv. Gorboduc i. i. (1847) 110 He clamme, into the flamyng carte. 1790 Burns John Anderson ii, We clamb the hill thegither. 1825 J. Neal Bro. Jonathan I. 164 Ye..never clamb a tree. |
(β) pl. 1 clumbon, 2–5 -en, 4–5 cloumbe(n, clombe(n, clomme(n. sing. 4–5 clomb(e (klʊm, klʌm).
| a 1123 O.E. Chron. an. 1070 Hi..clumben upp to the halᵹe rode. c 1205 Lay. 9420 Ouer þene wal heo clumben. 1297 R. Glouc. (1724) 410 Myd laudren hii clommen [1448 MS. Coll. Arms With laddre vp they clombe]. c 1340 Cursor M. 13459 (Trin.) Ihesus clomb [earlier MSS. clamb] vp into a hille. c 1384 Chaucer H. Fame iii. 28 Vp I clombe [v.r. clam, clambe] with alle payne. c 1386 ― Miller's T. 450 Vp they clomben [v.r. clumben, clumbe] alle thre. c 1420 Chron. Vilod. 932 He clomb vp by a walle. |
(γ) 6–9 clombe, 7 clome, 7– clomb (kləʊm).
| 1590 Spenser F.Q. iii. iv. 31 She to her wagon clombe; clombe all the rest. 1619 H. Hutton Follie's Anat. (1842) 7 My lame-legd muse nere clome Pernassus. 1697 Dryden æneid viii. 293 He clomb, with eager haste, th' Aerial height. 1768–74 Tucker Lt. Nat. (1852) I. 492 We clomb a high pinnacle. 1805 Wordsw. Waggoner i. 102 As when he clomb from Rydal-Mere. 1813 Scott Rokeby iii. iv, Now clombe the rocks projecting high. 1833 Tennyson Poems 84 Hither..she clomb [rime dome]. |
(δ) 3–4 clemde; 4–6 clymed, 6 clymmed, clymbd, climed, 6– climbed (klaɪmd).
| c 1275 Lay. 21439 Ȝe clemde to hehȝe vppen þisse hulle. a 1300 Cursor M. 6361 (Gött.) He clymed on mont synay. c 1305 St. Kenelm 123 in E.E.P. (1862) 51 He clemde vpon þis treo. 1480 [see B. 1]. 1535 Coverdale 1 Chron. xii. [xi]. 6 Then Ioab..clymmed vp first. 1539 Cranmer Luke xix. 4 He clymed [1611 climed] vp into a wylde fygge tree to see him. 1562 J. Heywood Prov. & Epigr. (1867) 167 He that neuer clymbd neuer fell. 1611 Bible 1 Sam. xiv. 13 And Ionathan climed vp vpon his hands, and vpon his feete. |
3. pa. pple. (α) 1–5 clumben, 2–3 i-, 4 clumbyn, 4–5 cloumben, 5 clommbyn, 6 Sc. clummin.
| c 1205 Lay. 21432 Þu were iclumben haȝe. c 1374 Chaucer Boeth. ii. vii. 57 Rome ne hadde nat ȝitte..cloumben ouer þe mountaigne. 1375 Barbour Bruce x. 606 Halff the craig thai clumbyn had. c 1400 Destr. Troy 13677 Wen a mon is..Clommbyn all þe Clif. c 1430 Pilgr. Lyf Manhode iv. lxii. (1869) 205 An old oon þat was clumben..vp on my bed. 1533 Bellenden Livy v. (1822) 472 The Gaule that wes clummin to the hicht of the Capitoll. |
(β) 4 clumbe, cloumbe, 4–5 clombe, clumb, 5–6 clom, (clome), 4–6, dial. –9 clum (klʌm).
| c 1386 Chaucer Man of Law's Prol. 12 Phebus..Degrees was five and fourty clombe on hight [v.r. iclombe, clome]. 1554 Turner in Strype Eccl. Mem. III. xviii. 149 One is now clom up so high. |
(γ) 6–7 clo(a)me, 6– clombe, clomb (kləʊm).
| 1610 Mirr. Mag. 534 Looking downe whence lately I was cloame [rime roame]. 1619 Drayton Odes xiii. 27 Parnassus is not clome By every such Mome. 1678 Cudworth Intell. Syst. i. v. 727 To have Clombe up. 1802 Coleridge Sibyl. Leaves II. 189 'Twas Frederic, who behind my chair had clomb [rime home]. 1805 Wordsw. Prelude iv. (1850) 85 A dreary moor Was crossed, a bare ridge clomb. 1866 Cornh. Mag. Mar. 309 The sun has just climbed—I would write clombe an I dared. |
(δ) (irreg.) 6 clymmen.
| 1535 Coverdale Jer. ix. 21 Deeth is clymmen up in at oure wyndowes. |
(ε) 3 iclemd, 6 clymmed, 7 climed, 6– climbed.
| c 1275 Lay. 21432 [Þou] þe were iclemde to heȝe. 1544 Supplic. Hen. VIII in Four Supplic. 35 Hath clymmed vp. 1593 Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, iv. x. 8 On a Bricke wall haue I climb'd into this Garden. 1678 Yng. Man's Call. 274 Having climed one step..must presently clime another. 1847 Tennyson Princ. Prol. 111 He had climb'd across the spikes. |
B. Significations.
1. a. intr. To raise oneself by grasping or clinging, or by the aid of hands and feet; ‘to mount by means of some hold or footing’ (J.); to creep up; to ascend, come, or go up, a perpendicular or steep place. Often with up.
| a 1123 O.E. Chron. (Laud MS.) an. 1070 Clumben upp to þe stepel. c 1225 Ancr. R. 162 Vs to uorbisne, þet we schullen..climben mid him on hulles. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xviii. xxii. (1495) 781 The wylde gotes..clymme vpon harde cragges. 1480 Caxton Chron. Eng. lxvi. 49 Clymed vnto the mount. c 1511 1st Eng. Bk. Amer. (Arb.) Introd. 29/2 To clyme vp in to the tree to gather frutes. 1513 Douglas æneis ii. v. [iv]. Argt., How the hors clame our the wallis of stone. 1562 J. Heywood Prov. & Epigr. (1867) 38 He that neuer climbde, neuer fell. 1667 Milton P.L. iv. 191 As a Thief..In at the window climbes. 1718 M. W. Montague Lett. II. xlix. 54 To climb to the top of it. 1816 Scott Antiq. vii, ‘I'll climb up the cliff again.’ |
b. to climb down: to descend by the same means; also fig. (in recent colloq. usage) to retreat from a position taken up, abate one's claims, etc.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 2238 (Cott.) Freli [we] may climb [v.r. climbe, clymbe] vp and dun. c 1425 Seven Sag. (P.) 973 That knave..clam adoune fra bough to boghe. 1887 Morley in Daily News 7 July 5/8 The first words that were said to us when we got there were—‘We hope you have not come to climb down’..Well, we had not come to climb down. 1889 Daily News Sept. 5 Mr. Burns expressed his belief that the dock directors were climbing down. |
2. a. trans. To ascend (anything steep) by hands and feet, creep up; to get to the top or summit of; to mount, scale.
| c 1205 Lay. 20845 [The fox] wildscipe climbið. 1375 Barbour Bruce x. 63 Thai stoutly clam the hill. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (1531) 52 b, To clymme this braunche. 1579 Cyuile & Vncyv. Life (1868) 40 It were great pittie to see a tall fellow to clyme a gibbet. 1611 Bible Joel ii. 7 They shall clime the wall like men of warre. 1738 Wesley Ps. cxlvii, Let the shrill Birds..climb the Morning Sky. 1816 Byron Siege Cor. Prol. 6 We forded the river, and clomb the high hill. 1838 Nichol Archit. Heav. (1851) 131 He who had clomb heights so lofty. 1862 Ruskin Munera P. (1880) 92 Its summit in the clouds, invisible, and not to be climbed. |
b. To reach or attain (a point) by this action.
| 1580 Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 443 Imagine not, that shining like the sunne in earth ye shall climbe the Sunne in heauen. 1591 Shakes. Two Gent. ii. iv. 181, I must climbe her window. Ibid. iii. i. 115 Her chamber is aloft..And built so sheluing, that one cannot climbe it. 1844 A. Welby Poems (1867) 70 I've climbed the summit of some breezy hill. |
3. Said of the sun, moon, etc.: To mount slowly upwards; to move towards the zenith. a. intr.
| c 1340 Cursor M. 16267 (Trin.) To clymbe aboue þe cloudes alle Þe son shal haue myȝt. c 1391 Chaucer Astrol. ii. §12 As the sonne clymbeth uppere & uppere. 1798 Coleridge Anc. Mar. iii. xv, Till clomb above the eastern bar The horned Moon. 1842 Tennyson Ulysses 55 The long day wanes: the slow moon climbs. 1883 Stevenson Treasure Isl. iv. xxi, The sun had climbed above our girdle of trees. |
b. trans.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 16267 To climbe þe cludes all Þe sunn sal haf þe might. 1799 Campbell Pleas. Hope i. 289 Oft when yon moon has climb'd the midnight sky. 1870 Bryant Iliad I. vii. 232 The sun began to climb the heavens. |
4. Of plants: To creep up by the aid of tendrils or by twining. a. intr. b. trans.
| 1796 H. Hunter tr. St. Pierre's Stud. Nat. (1799) II. 231 The branches..embrace all the surrounding trees, and climb to the height of more than sixteen feet. 1804 J. Grahame Sabbath 286 The blossoming pea..climbs the rust-worn bars. 1882 Vines Sachs' Bot. 870 The physiological function of tendrils is to take hold of supports..in order to allow the slender-stemmed plant which is furnished with them to climb up. 1884 Bower & Scott De Bary's Phaner. & Ferns 583 Species which do not climb. |
5. transf. Of other things: To rise, ascend, force its way upward: either with gradual motion, like smoke, or as the effect of continuous growth. Implying a gradual and continued rising. a. intr. Also spec. (see quots.), and in causative sense.
| a 1000 Sal. & Sat. (Gr.) 414 Leoht..clymmað on ᵹecyndo. 1611 Shakes. Cymb. v. v. 477 Let our crooked Smoakes climbe to their Nostrils. 1808 J. Barlow Columb. i. 412 The stream ungovernable..Climbs, combs tempestuous. 1832 Tennyson Lotos-eaters 18 Up-clomb the shadowy pine above the copse. 1858 G. Macdonald Phantastes x. (1878) 152 The colour floated abroad..and clomb, and spread. 1874 J. W. Long Amer. Wild-Fowl Shooting 245 They..can ‘climb’ out of gun-shot (as the hunters term their flying upwards when frightened at the appearance of danger beneath them) faster than most wild-fowl. 1915 Sphere 28 Aug. 220/2 One aeroplane has already climbed to the same level as the airship. 1919 Parl. Papers X. 49 It is most economical to climb an aeroplane in the attitude corresponding to the maximum value of the lift-drag ratio. |
b. trans.
| c 1325 E.E. Allit. P. B. 405 For hit [þe flod] clam vche a clyffe cubites fyftene. 1604 Shakes. Oth. ii. i. 189 Let the labouring Barke climbe hills of Seas. 1821 Shelley Prom. Unb. i. 110 The ocean's purple wave Climbing the land. |
6. transf. To slope upward; to form, or be situated on, an ascent, so that the successive parts occupy successively higher points. a. intr. b. trans.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 9948 A tron of iuor graid..Climband vp wit seuen pass. 1570–6 Lambarde Peramb. Kent (1826) 189 It [Newendene] standeth in the valley, and yet clymeth the hill. 1667 Milton P.L. xi. 119 On the East side of the Garden place, Where entrance up from Eden easiest climbes. 1834 Lytton Pompeii i. v, The woods and vineyards..then clomb half-way up the ascent. |
7. fig. a. intr. To rise by continued effort in dignity, rank, or state; to ascend or aspire upward in the intellectual, moral, or social scale.
| a 1240 Lofsong in Cott. Hom. 211 Ich ham heie iclumben wið þis ilke bone. a 1340 Hampole Psalter xxxvi. 21 Þe heghere þai klymbe in honurs and riches. c 1386 Chaucer Monk's T. 716 Syn in astaat thou clombe were so hye. a 1400–50 Alexander 3353 To clym to kyngs astate. 1530 Tindale Pract. Prelates Wks. II. 256 When the bishops office began..to be honourable, then the deacons..clamb up thereunto. 1593 Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, iv. vii. 62 Fearelesse minds clyme soonest vnto Crowns. 1657–8 Burton's Diary (1828) II. 465 The blessing..which we ever climbed at, was mercy, truth, righteousness, and peace. 1845 S. Austin Ranke's Hist. Ref. I. 89 At the same time Poland..climbed to the highest pinnacle of power she ever possessed. |
b. Said of things personified or treated as actors.
| c 1400 Rom. Rose 3911 Leccherie hath clombe so hye, That almoost blered is myn yhe. 1580 Sidney Arcadia ii. (1590) 171 Whose courage was apt to clime over any danger. 1642 Fuller Holy & Prof. St. v. xviii. 430 When ambition hath caught hold on pretended religion, how fast will it climb? 1823 Lamb Elia Ser. i. xxvi. (1865) 212 You could see the first dawn of an idea stealing slowly over his countenance, climbing up by little and little. |
c. trans.
| 1607 Shakes. Timon i. i. 76 One man..Bowing his head against the steepy Mount To climbe his happinesse. |
▪ II. climb, n.
(klaɪm)
Forms: 6 clime, 7 climbe, 8– climb.
[f. climb v.]
1. a. The act of climbing; a place where one must climb; an ascent.
| 1577–87 Holinshed Chron. I. 38/2 On three sides thereof the clime is verie steepe and headlong. 1587 Fleming Contn. Holinshed III. 996/1 The places of the wall where the clime was most easie. 1618 Bolton Florus iii. iii. 169 At the very climbe of the Alps. 1816 Keatinge Trav. I. 75 The climb (for it cannot be called a walk) would..be too fatiguing. |
b. Comb. climb-down, a descent; fig. a withdrawal, esp. with ignominy, from a position taken up; abandonment of a declared position; † climb-fall a., characterized by climbs and falls.
| 1580 Sidney Arcadia (1622) 83 Free of proud feares, braue begg'ry, smiling strife, Of clime-fall Court. 1887 Globe 10 Dec. 3/4 The important incident of the week..is the climb-down of Mr. Chaplin. 1944 R. C. K. Ensor Miniat. Hist. War 12 He confronted a bewildered Europe with a threat of instant battle, only averted by the climb-down of France and Great Britain at Munich. 1960 Guardian 9 July 5/5 The proposal inevitably appears as a climb-down in face of Soviet pressure. 1961 A. Wilson Old Men at Zoo iii. 128 The French have sent a tremendous climbdown note. |
2. Of aircraft: the ascent; also, the rate of ascent. Also attrib.
| 1915 F. A. Talbot Aeroplanes & Dirigibles xii. 162 Daring sweeps, startling wheels..and remarkable climbs are carried out. 1916 H. Barber Aeroplane Speaks 8 The essentials for Climb or quick ascent and for Speed are diametrically opposed. 1918 W. E. Dommett Dict. Aircraft 14 The time taken by an aircraft to rise each 1,000 ft. is known as ‘the climb’. 1934 Times 26 June (Air Suppl.) p. xx/2 To absorb the maximum power of the engine during take-off, climb, and level flight. 1940 N. Monks Squadrons Up! viii. 215 Climb Indicator, showing thousands of feet per minute. |
3. A ‘cat’ burglary; so at the climb: engaged in such burglaries. Thieves' slang. Cf. climber n. 5, climbing vbl. n. 2.
| 1931 A. R. L. Gardner Prisoner at Bar v. 90 High-class burglars not ‘at the climb’ usually work in partnership with a chosen pal. 1960 Observer 25 Dec. 7/6 Climbers were much commoner than creeps. ‘At the climb’ was the modern expression... They would still go up by the soil pipe because that was the solidest. Ibid., While the family were at dinner was the best time for an uninterrupted climb. |