verb / noun · neutral
climb
/klaɪm/CLIMB
to go up gradually; a gradual upward movement
Examples
“The proportion of households owning a car climbed steadily from 20% to 45%.”
“There was a steady climb in temperatures over the week.”
“Visitor numbers climbed to a new high by October.”
Band 8 sentence
“After a modest decline in 2012, car ownership climbed steadily throughout the decade, reaching nearly 60% by 2019.”
Collocations
- climb by X% / climb to X
- climb steadily / climb gradually
- a steady climb
Word family
Common mistakes
The rate climbed up by 5%.→The rate climbed by 5%.
There was a climb to 10% in 2010.→There was a climb to 10% in 2010.
Say it for a higher band
5go up→6increase→7+climb
Synonyms
rise
increase
Easily confused
rise
“The unemployment rate rose from 5% to 8% between 2009 and 2014.”
soar
“After the policy change, sales soared by 60% in a single year.”
Related words
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In Rise & fall
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