Clomb

/kloʊm/ verb

Definition

Past tense of climb; an archaic or poetic form of the simple past, used historically in English.

Etymology

From Old English climban, with 'clomb' as an irregular past tense form. Like other strong verbs in English (sing/sang, drink/drank), Old English had irregular past tenses, but most have been regularized over time.

Kelly Says

'Clomb' is the ghost of English's ancient grammar system—we still see it in poetry and the King James Bible, but it lost out to 'climbed.' This shows how English is constantly normalizing its irregular verbs, making them more predictable.

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