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

Horvath earned the honor after setting eight world records as a mountain climber. —Zuri Primos june 16, Kansas City Star, 16 June 2026

Balin Miller, a popular Alaskan free climber, fell to his death at the age of 23 last summer on Yosemite National Park's El Capitan. —Ahmed Shawkat, CBS News, 15 June 2026

The events that will qualify climbers include the European Games, the Pan American Games, select World Climbing Championship events and Olympic Qualifier Series events. —Charles Baggarly, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 10 June 2026

Ascending the mountain to its glacial peak is often a bucket-list entry, but mountaineering experience is required and most climbers will launch their final push from Camp Muir. —Alia Beard Rau, USA Today, 10 June 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