clamber

Etymology

From Middle English clambren, clameren, clemeren (“to climb, clamber; to crawl, creep”), then either: * possibly from clam, clamb, clemb, past tense of climben (“to climb, get over; to ascend, rise”), and influenced by Old English clæmman (“to press”); or * from Old English *clambrian, from Proto-Germanic *klambrōną or *klambizōną. 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.

verb

1. (transitive, intransitive) To climb (something) with some difficulty, or in a haphazard fashion.
   The children clambered over the jungle gym.
   The worn-out Lawyer clambers to the bench / That he may live at eaſe, and keep his wench; … 1768, William Wilkie, “A Dialogue. The Author and a Friend.”, in Fables, London: Printed for Edward and Charles Dilly,[…]; Edinburgh: A[lexander] Kincaid and J. Bell, →OCLC, page 138
   And scarce did manlier nerve uphold / The hero Zal in that fond hour, / Than wings the youth who, fleet and bold, / Now climbs the rocks to Hinda's bower. / See—light as up their granite steeps / The rock-goats of Arabia clamber, / Fearless from crag to crag he leaps, / And now is in the maiden's chamber. 1845, Thomas Moore, “The Fire-worshippers”, in The Poetical Works of Thomas Moore.[…], London: Printed [by A[ndrew] Spottiswoode] for Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans,[…], →OCLC, page 362, column 1
   Thus, sitting where I was, I lit my candle once more, and then clambered across that great coffin which, for two hours or more, had been a mid-wall of partition between me and danger.[…] 1898, J[ohn] Meade Falkner, “In the Vault”, in Moonfleet, London: Edward Arnold; Edinburgh: T[homas] and A[rchibald] Constable,[…], →OCLC; republished London, Toronto, Ont.: Jonathan Cape[…], 1934, →OCLC, page 56
   But yesterday, on an impulse, we ventured out, getting through a gap in the wall and clambering up the rocks until we reached the peak. 2004, Shashi Deshpande, “Lost Springs”, in Collected Stories, volume II, New Delhi: Penguin Books, page 70
   And in a trice he has clambered onto the kitchen dresser and is reaching for the top shelf. 2013, J[ohn] M[axwell] Coetzee, chapter 22, in The Childhood of Jesus, Melbourne, Vic.: The Text Publishing Company, page 220

noun

1. The act of clambering; a difficult or haphazard climb.
   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. 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
   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. 1 April 1847 – 7 April 1847, 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
   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. 3 October 1863, 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
   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). 2005, Richard Mabey, “Lair”, in Nature Cure, London: Chatto & Windus; republished Charlottesville, Va.: University of Virginia Press, 2007, page 76