free-climbing

verb

present participle of free-climb
as in ascending

Related Words

Relevance

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for free-climbing
  1. ascending
  2. scaling
  3. surmounting
Verb
  • Maxey has also become one of the NBA’s best guards, and Edgecombe is still ascending.
    — Tony Jones, New York Times, 2 July 2026
  • An autopsy later determined the cause of Grant’s shocking death, at just 49 years old, to be a ruptured ascending aortic aneurysm.
    — Sam McDowell July 1, Kansas City Star, 1 July 2026
Definition of ascending
Verb
  • These are hero buys that will survive the elements, no matter whether plans include scaling mountains or sunning in parks.
    — Ellie Davis, Vogue, 2 July 2026
  • Authorities identified the climbers as Angela Nikolau, 33, and Ivan Kuznetsov, 32, a Russian couple known for scaling skyscrapers and other towering structures around the world.
    — Stephen Sorace, FOXNews.com, 2 July 2026
Definition of scaling
Verb
  • After being out-skated early, the Ducks settled into their skates, surmounting both shot and goal to deficits to run the shot count to 24-17 and even the score, 2-2, through 40 minutes.
    — Andrew Knoll, Oc Register, 27 Apr. 2026
  • The race starts and ends at the corner of Tait and Nicholson avenues, with the challenge of surmounting Cat’s Hill, which has a 23% incline.
    — Nollyanne Delacruz, Mercury News, 15 Mar. 2026
Definition of surmounting
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.

Browse Nearby Words

free-climbed
free-climbing
free-climbs
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Free-climbing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/free-climbing. Accessed 9 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

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

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of tacit

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

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

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

Commonly Misspelled Words

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

One-Word Oxymorons: Bittersweet, Spendthrift, and More

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List
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
hangman letters and game
Hangman Lightning Round Figure out which word fits in the blanks.
See All