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Glite Dictionary
🪜 To go lower 🔙 To take back words
to climb down

to climb down

48 1.4
Move down from a high place using hands and feet
  • phrasal verb
  • /klaɪm daʊn/
: bajar (de)
  • After reaching the top, he slowly climbed down the ladder.
  • climb down a ladder

Mellie, who's been chosen to uphold tradition if she leaves, who will climb down the wooden ladder into the gaping mouth of the earth?

Examples

Synonyms

to come down
vsto climb down
∞ 2.8

To become lower, for example temperature or prices

involves using hands and feet on ladders trees rather than general lowering
to descend
vsto climb down
169 2.7

Move from a higher to a lower place

uses hands and feet to go from higher places using ladders or trees
to get down
vsto climb down
84 1.6

To move something from a high place to a lower place

is about personal descent using hands and feet not moving others

Antonyms

to climb up
151 1.0

To move up using hands and feet, often with effort

to ascend
51 4.0

To move upward to a higher place, for example up a hill or into the sky

How Difficult

to abseil
  • UK
1 8.5
to clamber
17 5.6
to climb down
48 1.4
to get down
84 1.6

Surface Forms

climb down infinitive
climbed down past
climbed down past participle
climbing down present participle
climbs down third person singular

Morphology

climb + down

The sense 'to retract or withdraw a position' is a metaphorical extension of the literal meaning of 'climb' + 'down' (physically moving downward/retreating). A B1 learner who knows the constituents can often infer a general notion of retreat or stepping back, but the specific pragmatic nuance of conceding a prior statement under pressure is not fully predictable without exposure, so the relation is only partially transparent.

Etymology

Climb down: The verb climb down comes from the simple picture of using your hands and feet to climb down a ladder, tree, or slope to get lower. So it means 'to go down' from a higher place.