climbing
noun · adjective
Simple meaning
The sport of climbing, ascending a wall or a rock or another object using available holds, generally with the safety of a rope and belayer.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
klymingSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈklaɪmɪŋ
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
uncountable
The sport of climbing, ascending a wall or a rock or another object using available holds, generally with the safety of a rope and belayer.
countable
Climb; ascent.
adjective
botanyof a plant
That climbs; that grows upwards by gripping onto a surface.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate (estimated)
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: The sport of climbing, ascending a wall or a rock or another object using available holds, generally with the safety of a rope and belayer.
Used this way, climbing is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a sporting use: familiar to anyone who follows the game, and puzzling to anyone who does not.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Where it naturally appears
- Sports
- News/reporting
- Everyday conversation
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use climbing
- “The rock climbing gym is a fun place to practice a challenging sport.”noun
Share your sentence
Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
Go upward with gradual or continuous progress.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
A vine or climbing plant that readily grows up a support or over other plants.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Tropical Africa to Australasia and Polynesia.
Twining shrub of North America having yellow capsules enclosing scarlet seeds.
Herb of tropical America having vanilla-scented flowers.
Annual vine with decompound leaves and racemes of yellow and pink flowers.
Any of several ferns of the genus Lygodium that climb by twining.
A framework of bars or logs for children to climb on.
Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
- mountaineeringnoun
- skiingnoun
- climbernoun
- laddernoun
- vinenoun
Use This Word
See how this word sounds in a real sentence.
Ask Vocabaura
Understand the word your way.
What Does It Mean Here?
Words can change meaning depending on context.
Use it yourself
Keep learning “climbing” by choosing the kind of practice you need next.
- Practice sentence writingWrite sentences with vocabulary and get instant feedback.
- Practice in contextAnswer short vocabulary questions drawn from real situations.
- Review vocabularyTest your recall and strengthen words over time.
- Practice typingType vocabulary in short rounds that draw from words you've learned and saved.
Want to type words like this one without looking at the keyboard? Each typing round draws from words you've learned, saved or need to review. Follow the free Learn to Type lessons and type your own vocabulary with confidence.
Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.