Climb

Part of speech: verb, noun

Pronunciation: /klaɪm/

Definitions

1. To move upward by using hands and feet or equipment, or to rise gradually in amount, level, or social position
2. To ascend a vertical surface employing limbs or devices, or to improve progressively in quantity, rank, or status
3. To scale an incline with the use of hands and feet or tools, or to grow increasingly in degree, position, or influence

Etymology: The verb "climb" began as a word about sticking to things. Its ancestor in Germanic was thought to be a nasalised variant of a root meaning "to stick" or "to cleave", a sense that survives in the English words "clay" and "glue", which share the same ancient base. Climbing, in other words, was originally about clinging, with the upward movement following from that grip rather than being its core meaning. The word reached English in Old English as "climban", and in Middle English it appeared as "climben" and "clymben". Its sense of gripping and hauling oneself up is preserved in its close relative "clamber", which carries a similar clumsy, hand-over-hand idea. German "klimmen" and Dutch "klimmen" show the same root in continental Germanic, and Icelandic "klifra" keeps it alive in the North.

Synonyms: ascend, scale, mount, rise, surge

Antonyms: descend, fall, drop