climber

noun

climb·​er ˈklī-mər 

plural climbers

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

In these scenarios, a stuck person must wait until another hiker, skier, or climber comes through and finds them. —Jayme Moye, Outside, 5 Mar. 2026

Alex Honnold says, climbers are the worst. —Outside Online, 4 Mar. 2026

Around dusk, the two climbers attached mechanical ascenders to it and, hanging upside down like tree sloths, made the long, slow traverse to my platform. —Robert Moor, New Yorker, 2 Mar. 2026

Skyscraper Live saw Free Solo climber Alex Honnold scale the Taiwan skyscraper Taipei 101 without the use of ropes, which was claimed to be the highest free solo climb of an urban structure. —Max Goldbart, Deadline, 2 Mar. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

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

Phrases Containing climber

• social climber
• stair-climber

Rhymes for climber

• dimer
• eimer
• primer
• rhymer
• timer
• alzheimer
• heterodimer