climber

English
WOTD – 14 July 2022

Pronunciation
Nepalese climbers (sense 1) Chhiring Dorje (left) and Temba Tsheri at the top of Denali, Alaska, U.S.A.
Old man’s beard or traveller’s joy (Clematis vitalba), a species of clematis, is a climber (sense 1.2).
British professional cyclist Chris Froome, who is regarded as a climber (sense 1.3), during the 2017 Tour de France.
  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈklaɪmə/
  • Audio (Southern England)(file)
  • (General American) IPA(key): /ˈklaɪmɚ/
  • Rhymes: -aɪmə(ɹ)
  • Hyphenation: climb‧er

Etymology 1

From Middle English climber, clymber, clymbare (“one who climbs, climber”),[1] from climben (“to climb; to ascend, fly upward, rise; to slope upwards; to approach God in prayer; to advance; to overcome, triumph; to aspire; to be presumptuous”)[2] + -er, -ere (suffix forming agent nouns).[3] The English word is analysable as climb (verb) +‎ -er (suffix forming agent nouns).[4]

Noun

climber (plural climbers)

  1. Someone or something that climbs (such as a mountain climber).
    1. (botany) A plant such as a vine that climbs upwards as it grows by attaching itself to some support.
      Synonym: creeper
    2. (cycle racing) A cyclist who specializes in riding especially well on steep hills or roads.
    3. (figuratively, derogatory) A person who is constantly trying to get ahead socially.
      Synonym: social climber
    4. (ornithology) A bird that climbs, such as a parrot or woodpecker; specifically (archaic), a bird having two toes pointing forward, and two pointing backward, formerly regarded as being from the order Scansores or Zygodactyli (now obsolete as the birds formerly in this order have been reclassified into different orders); a zygodactyl.
  2. Something that is used for climbing.
    1. (climbing) Synonym of climbing iron (“a kind of crampon attached to the shoe to aid with climbing”)
Derived terms
Translations
bird having two toes pointing forward, and two pointing backward — see zygodactyl
synonym of climbing iron — see climbing iron

Etymology 2

From climb +‎ -er (frequentative suffix); or a blend of climb +‎ clamber.[5]

Verb

climber (third-person singular simple present climbers, present participle climbering, simple past and past participle climbered)

  1. (intransitive, obsolete) To ascend or mount with effort; to clamber, to climb.

References
  1. “clī̆mber, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  2. “clī̆mben, v.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  3. “-ē̆r(e, suf.(1)”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  4. “climber, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, March 2022; “climber, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
  5. “† climber, v.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, March 2021.

Further reading

Anagrams
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