climb

/klaɪm/

//klaɪm// verb

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"climb" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“climb” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #4,929 in English word frequency and used as a verb.

#4,929
frequency rank, English
5
letters
8
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To ascend; rise; to go up.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

climb vs club
60% similar
climb vs clip
60% similar
climb vs comb
60% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for climb
PropertyValue
Headwordclimb
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/klaɪm/
Letters5
Frequency rank#4,929
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “climb” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). climb lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for climb is 5 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /klaɪm/. Corpus data places it at rank #4,929 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 8 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for climb, with forms such as "cclimb", "cilmb", and "clibm". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "club", "clip", "comb", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English climben, from Old English climban (“to climb”), from Proto-West Germanic *klimban, from Proto-Germanic *klimbaną (“to climb, go up by clinging”), believed to be a nasalised variant of Proto-Germanic *klibaną, *klibāną (“to stick, cleave”… The correct English form is climb, spelled C-L-I-M-B.

Definition

  1. 1
    To ascend; rise; to go up.
  2. 2
    To ascend; rise; to go up.
  3. 3
    To mount; to move upwards on.
  4. 4
    To scale; to get to the top of something.
  5. 5
    To move (especially up and down something) by gripping with the hands and using the feet.
  6. 6
    To practise the sport of climbing.
  7. 7
    To jump high.
  8. 8
    (botany) Of plants, to grow upwards by clinging to something.

Etymology

From Middle English climben, from Old English climban (“to climb”), from Proto-West Germanic *klimban, from Proto-Germanic *klimbaną (“to climb, go up by clinging”), believed to be a nasalised variant of Proto-Germanic *klibaną, *klibāną (“to stick, cleave”), from Proto-Indo-European *gley- (“to stick”). Cognate with West Frisian klimme (“to climb”), Dutch klimmen (“to climb”), German klimmen (“to climb”), Old Norse klembra (“to squeeze”), Icelandic klifra (“to climb”). Related to clamber. See also clay, glue.

Synonyms

scale

This word in other languages

escalar(Español)grimper(Français)klettern(Deutsch)subir(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: cclimb,cilmb,clibm,climbb,climmb,cllimb,clmib,lcimb

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of climb - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

cclimb1cilmb2clibm2climbb1climmb1cllimb1clmib2lcimb2
Edit distance from "climb"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "climb"?
"climb" is spelled C-L-I-M-B. The IPA pronunciation is /klaɪm/.
What does "climb" mean?
As a verb, "climb" means: To ascend; rise; to go up.
What words are commonly confused with "climb"?
"climb" is commonly confused with "club", "clip", "comb". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "climb"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "climb" is /klaɪm/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "climb"?
From Middle English climben, from Old English climban (“to climb”), from Proto-West Germanic *klimban, from Proto-Germanic *klimbaną (“to climb, go up by clinging”), believed to be a nasalised variant of Proto-Germanic *klibaną, *klibāną (“to stic... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “climb”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is C-L-I-M-B - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as /klaɪm/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “club” - see the side-by-side comparison. climb vs club
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list