clamber

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English

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WOTD – 21 March 2020

Etymology

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From Middle English clambren, clameren, clemeren (“to climb, clamber; to crawl, creep”), then either:

The English word is cognate with Low German klemmern, klempern (“to climb”), Scots clammer (“to clamber”); and compare also Danish klamre (“to cling”), Icelandic klambra, klembra (“to pinch closely together; clamp”), Swedish klamra (“to cling”).

The noun is derived from the verb.[2]

Pronunciation

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Verb

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clamber (third-person singular simple present clambers, present participle clambering, simple past and past participle clambered)

  1. (transitive, intransitive) To climb (something) with some difficulty, or in a haphazard fashion.
    The children clambered over the jungle gym.

Alternative forms

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Derived terms

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Translations

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Noun

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clamber (plural clambers)

  1. The act of clambering; a difficult or haphazard climb.
    • 1814 February, J[ohn] C[am] Hobhouse, “A Journey through Albania, and Other Provinces of Turkey in Europe and Asia, to Constantinople, during the Years 1809 and 1810”, in The Literary Panorama […], volume XV, London: Printed by Jones and Hatfield, […], for C. Taylor, […], →OCLC, column 147:
      Against intruding uncalled, and without a proper Sybilline conductress, into the realms of grim Pluto, he might have objections, not easily removed; but against a clamber to the scene of Jove's own Court [Mount Olympus], no objection could possibly lie, except the danger of breaking his neck, in coming down again;—much too trivial to deter a true virtuoso adept.
    • 1847 April 1–7, William Bennett, “Letter X. Dublin—Cahirciveen.”, in Narrative of a Recent Journey of Six Weeks in Ireland, […], London: Charles Gilpin, […]; John Hatchard & Son, […]; Dublin: J. Curry, Jun. & Co., →OCLC, page 108:
      The entrance to the caves is not far from the further gate of the park. Their position is truly disappointing. I had anticipated a clamber half up the side of the mountain, and then some vast rift of chasm, not attainable without difficulty and danger.
    • 1863 October 3, Mary Eyre, “Saumur. Les Pierres Couvertes. Le Carrousel.”, in [Samuel Lucas], editor, Once a Week. An Illustrated Miscellany of Literature, Art, Science, & Popular Information, volume IX, number 223, London: Bradbury & Evans, […], →OCLC, page 418, column 2:
      Beyond these woods were crags covered with purple heather, gleaming crimson in the light. Tired as I was, I could not resist going out of my way to enjoy a clamber over the wild moor, and its fresh breezy air.
    • 2005, Richard Mabey, “Lair”, in Nature Cure, London: Chatto & Windus, →ISBN; republished Charlottesville, Va.: University of Virginia Press, 2007, →ISBN, page 76:
      They [the author's cats] loved a large Ordnance Survey map above all things, or a clamber across the electric typewriter (though they never succeeded in typing their names, as my Chiltern cat Pip, in a moment of serendipitous dancing, very nearly did).

Derived terms

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References

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  1. ^ “clambren, v.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007; compare “clamber, v.2”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1889; “clamber, v.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
  2. ^ “clamber, n.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1889; “clamber, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Anagrams

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