climber

noun

climb·​er ˈklī-mər How to pronounce climber (audio)
plural climbers
Synonyms of climbernext
1
a
: a person or animal that climbs
a tree climber
a bicyclist who's an excellent climber
a mountain climber
We also teach how to handle a rope and how to belay another climber to protect them if they fall.—Lou Whittaker
see also rock climber
b
: a climbing plant
ivy and other climbers
Owing to their size and abundance, climbing plants, especially the large woody climbers or lianes, are one of the most impressive features of the Tropical Rain forest.—P. W. Richards
2
: social climber

Examples of climber in a Sentence

Chimpanzees are excellent climbers and spend a lot of their lives in trees. climbers like clematis and ivy
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Rescuers reached the injured climber the following morning, but bad weather prevented an aerial extraction. — Stepheny Price, FOXNews.com, 27 Oct. 2026 The helicopter hoisted the climber’s remains from an elevation of roughly 13,600 feet. — Iris Kwok, Los Angeles Times, 27 Oct. 2026 Last October, two climbers, one French, aged 65, and the other South Korean, aged 66, died during expeditions there. — CBS News, 27 Oct. 2026 On October 15th, Morrison’s team put a dozen climbers, including Chin and several of his film crew, on the summit, more than tripling the historical total of Super Direct summiteers in a single push. — Nick Paumgarten, New Yorker, 26 Oct. 2026 See All Example Sentences for climber

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Time Traveler
The first known use of climber was in the 15th century

Phrases Containing climber

Rhymes for climber

See All Rhymes for climber

Browse Nearby Words

climb down
climber
climbing bindweed
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Climber.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/climber. Accessed 28 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on climber

Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for climber

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of grotesque

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

Why do we 'bury the lede?'

'Za' and 9 Other Words to Help You Win at SCRABBLE
See More

Popular

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
different halloween monsters in silhouette
A Monstrous Vocab Quiz Words That Go Bump in the Night
See All