climbing

/ˈklaɪ̯mɪŋ/

//ˈklaɪ̯mɪŋ// noun

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

"climbing" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“climbing” has 13 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #5,865. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#5,865
frequency rank, English
5,599
“C” headwords
13
tracked misspellings
8
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - 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.

Corpus desk

Index EN-climbing · climbing · English

climbing · rank #5,865 · 13 variants · 8 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #5,865
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 8 pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 13 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,599
  • PHOTO-FINISH chasing

Nearest frequency peer: chasing (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “climbing”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “climbing” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

climbing vs combing
75% similar
climbing vs clinging
75% similar
climbing vs clipping
75% similar

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

Key facts for climbing
PropertyValue
Headwordclimbing
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈklaɪ̯mɪŋ/
Letters8
Frequency rank#5,865
Misspellings tracked13
Confusable pairs8
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “climbing”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).climbinglands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “chasing” (#5,864), “colony” (#5,866), “charm” (#5,863). Among 5,599 “C” headwords, “climbing” is #5,865. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 13 spelling variants around climbing (IPA /ˈklaɪ̯mɪŋ/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #5,865 among 5,599 “C” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 13 likely wrong-spelling variants for climbing, with forms such as "cclimbing", "cilmbing", and "clibming". 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 8 confusable-pair relationships, "combing", "clinging", "clipping", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English clymbyng; equivalent to climb + -ing. The correct English form is climbing, spelled C-L-I-M-B-I-N-G.

Definition

  1. 1
    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.
  2. 2
    Climb; ascent.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how climbing appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. The next day, the team had to wear special ice climbing footwear while repairing other research devices on the glacier.

Etymology

From Middle English clymbyng; equivalent to climb + -ing.

This word in other languages

escalada(Español)escalade(Français)Klettern(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • cclimbing
  • cilmbing
  • clibming
  • climbbing
  • climbign
  • climbingg
  • climbinng
  • climbnig
  • climibng
  • climmbing
  • cllimbing
  • clmibing
  • lcimbing

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of climbing - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

cclimbing1cilmbing2clibming2climbbing1climbign2climbingg1climbinng1climbnig2
Edit distance from "climbing"

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 "climbing"?
"climbing" is spelled C-L-I-M-B-I-N-G. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈklaɪ̯mɪŋ/.
What does "climbing" mean?
As a noun, "climbing" means: 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.
What words are commonly confused with "climbing"?
"climbing" is commonly confused with "combing", "clinging", "clipping". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "climbing"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "climbing" is /ˈklaɪ̯mɪŋ/. 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 "climbing"?
From Middle English clymbyng; equivalent to climb + -ing. 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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "climbing", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

blocking#5,860deadline#5,871demanded#5,874athletic#5,855

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (13 here; floor ≥5).

curriculum13 variantselectoral13 variantsinterface13 variantssterling13 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list