climb: [OE] The original notion contained in climb seems not to have been so much ‘ascent’ as ‘holding on’. Old English climban came from a prehistoric West Germanic *klimban, a nasalized variant of the base which produced English cleave ‘adhere’. To begin with this must have meant strictly ‘go up by clinging on with the hands and feet’ – to ‘swarm up’, in fact – but already by the late Old English period we find it being used for ‘rising’ in general. The original past tense clamb, which died out in most areas in the 16th century, is probably related to clamp ‘fastening’ [14]. => clamp, cleave
climb (v.)
Old English climban "raise oneself using hands and feet; rise gradually, ascend; make an ascent of" (past tense clamb, past participle clumben, clumbe), from West Germanic *klimban "go up by clinging" (cognates: Dutch klimmen "to climb," Old High German klimban, German klimmen). A strong verb in Old English, weak by 16c. Most other Germanic languages long ago dropped the -b. Meaning "to mount as if by climbing" is from mid-14c. Figurative sense of "rise slowly by effort" is from mid-13c. Related: Climbed; climbing.
climb (n.)
1580s, "act of climbing," from climb (v.). Meaning "an ascent by climbing" is from 1915, originally in aviation.
双语例句
1. In an embarrassing climb-down, the Home Secretary lifted the deportation threat.
内务大臣尴尬地作出让步，解除了将其驱逐出境的威胁。
来自柯林斯例句
2. She started once again on the steep upward climb.
她又开始沿着陡峭的山路往上爬。
来自柯林斯例句
3. The boys lifted up their legs, indicating they wanted to climb in.
男孩们抬起腿，示意想要爬进来。
来自柯林斯例句
4. He went south to climb Taishan, a mountain sacred to the Chinese.
他南下去爬泰山了，那是中国人心目中一座神圣的山。
来自柯林斯例句
5. The economy is starting to climb out of recession.