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clamber
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
clamber
verb
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADVERB
down
▪ He clambered down, dusted himself off.
▪ Short of clambering down there myself I could be no surer, and there was no real need for that.
▪ As you clamber down the mountainside over the strata, the fossils suddenly disappear.
▪ But he was clambering down and opening the door, to take part in whatever was going on.
▪ As Sinead clambered down she was trembling.
▪ Dorcas clambered down awkwardly on to Jekub's oily deck.
on
▪ He staggered as I clambered on, but stayed upright.
▪ A youth clambered on to the roof at the back of the shop for a dare and fell through.
▪ It is believed the roof they clambered on to was not even on the same floor.
out
▪ He pushed open the driver's side door and clambered out, unsure whether to approach the Montego or wait.
▪ At some point, he clambers out of the window, up on to the roof of the train.
▪ But 39-year-old Patrese clambered out with just a pair of bruised knees and trembling hands.
▪ He clambered out and was taken to hospital suffering from cuts and bruises.
▪ The attendant clambered out from behind the counter, one of his colleagues taking his place.
▪ Redgrave was waiting for me there and held the boat steady as I clambered out.
▪ Aware of being outmanoeuvred she pauses, then gives in, clambering out, water trickling down, darkening the boards.
▪ He clambered out and looked around him.
over
▪ Stephen went back across the river again, clambering over the boulders.
▪ Now his lifesize copies of himself can be seen clambering over the school buildings.
▪ She clambered over the mossy wall at the bottom of the garden and edged round a shed.
▪ Swiftly, Ace clambered over the red-stained sandbags, and checked the door.
▪ She clambered over the side of the last truck and crouched down out of sight.
▪ He clambered over a bench, vaulted over a nestle of children on the ground, and failed to dodge a pie-seller.
▪ She worked her way round the obstruction, clambering over general debris as she went.
▪ Or they might just clamber over the wall at any point.
up
▪ They clambered up the rickety wooden outside staircase to Louis's workshop in what had been the grooms' quarters.
▪ Once they were out of sight, James clambered up to the roof, rather awkwardly I thought.
▪ He clambered up the bank to the top where the trees ended.
▪ Those in front clambered up on to the grates that covered the entrance.
▪ So I clambered up with the rest when the order came.
▪ Some of the multi-legged vegetarians found their fodder by clambering up the trunks.
▪ The garden became like an ants' nest as snaking rows of people clambered up our hillside.
■ NOUN
foot
▪ As I clamber to my feet he starts to run.
▪ The black guy starts clambering to his feet while Vinnie dithers with his knife.
▪ The Doctor clambered petulantly to his feet, with the thunderous expression of a child whose toys have been impounded.
▪ Grimwood was half supporting Steve who had clambered to his feet, making their way further along Greenway Gardens.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ At last we saw the two girls clambering down the slope to safety.
▪ Hundreds of people clambered to the roof of the building to watch the fire spread.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ All of the Debenham pupils clamber up the stairs leaving the Stonham pupils downstairs.
▪ Fonti clambered inside the mock-up to have a look.
▪ He clambered up the bank to the top where the trees ended.
▪ He fills it with a restless, bristling energy, as if he might clamber out of the frame and into real life.
▪ He staggered as I clambered on, but stayed upright.
▪ She clambered over the mossy wall at the bottom of the garden and edged round a shed.
▪ Some clambered to the roof of the Administration Building to watch.
▪ Those in front clambered up on to the grates that covered the entrance.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Clamber

Clamber \Clam"ber\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Clambered; p. pr. & vb. n. Clambering.] [OE clambren, clameren, to heap together, climb; akin to Icel. klambra to clamp, G. klammern. Cf. Clamp, Climb.] To climb with difficulty, or with hands and feet; -- also used figuratively.

The narrow street that clambered toward the mill.
--Tennyson.

Clamber

Clamber \Clam"ber\, n. The act of clambering.
--T. Moore.

Clamber

Clamber \Clam"ber\, v. t. To ascend by climbing with difficulty.

Clambering the walls to eye him.
--Shak.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
clamber

"to climb with difficulty using hands and feet," late 14c., possibly frequentative of Middle English climben "to climb" (preterit clamb), or akin to Old Norse klembra "to hook (oneself) on." Related: Clambered; clambering.

Wiktionary
clamber

n. The act of clambering; a difficult or haphazard climb. vb. To climb with some difficulty, or in a haphazard fashion.

WordNet
clamber

  1. n. an awkward climb; "reaching the crest was a real clamber"

  2. v. climb awkwardly, as if by scrambling [syn: scramble, shin, shinny, skin, struggle, sputter]

Usage examples of "clamber".

Therefore did I drift down into a treetop and clambered down into their midst, the less to afright them.

If I were the more agile jumper Hovan Du far outclassed me in climbing, with the result that he reached the rail and was clambering over while my eyes were still below the level of the deck, which was, perhaps, a fortunate thing for me since, by chance, I had elected to gain the deck directly at a point where, unknown to me, one of the crew of the ship was engaged with the grappling hooks.

Clambering back over the railing, Alec caught hold of two carved balusters and hung by his fingers.

I followed it until I got to the grandly named Recycling Center, which, in fact, was three galvanized dustbins for plastic bottles, glass and aluminium cans, and clambered over.

He could see the last of the men clambering desperately toward the light, appallingly slow and clumsy in their suits.

The Biter was alongside the rigging wharf, starboard side to, and almost without a conscious intention he crossed the deck, swung legs across the bulwarks, and clambered down on to the dockside That Sam Holt had betrayed him he would not believe.

At the barrier the Sagoths clambered up the steep side with truly apelike agility, while behind them the haughty queen rose upon her wings with her two frightful dragons close beside her, and settled down upon the largest bowlder of them all in the exact center of that side of the amphitheater which is reserved for the dominant race.

Surely mortal men must break under such punishment, yet they came on, clambering over the torn and twitching corpses of their comrades, their multi-coloured jib has plastered with reeking black mud, never wavering, each man trying to fight his way to the front rank of the attack, scornful of death, eager to seek it out in the smoking muzzles of the guns.

They turned back to the firing embrasures and poured their volleys down into the mass of Dervish clambering up towards them.

Sarasper said gloomily, clambering past the stoutly wedged boat onto a bare finger of dock beyond.

Rani struggled for breath in the suddenly close cathedral, clambering to her feet.

Where they came out of the trees, Autun rose before them, its main ramparts clambering along a defensible hill and more recent settlements sprawled below the old walls along the river, each ringed by a palisade.

I have been sliding off and clambering on ever since I bade goodbye to Havant.

I had no time to spare in clambering up it, for I had to tear my heel out of the mouth of the foremost of them, and might have been dragged down by it had he not found my spur too tough a morsel for his chewing.

My very heart rose when I saw the bull-dog fellows clambering up the breach with their pikes at the trail, and never quavering in their psalm-tune, though the bullets sung around them as thick as bees in the hiving time.