Upward movement is indicated by all these words. Climb suggests most strongly a laborious or tortuous moving upwards: the men who climbed Everest; a car slowly climbing the steep hill; an erratic market climbing to new highs; the aircraft climbing to get above the cloudbank. Scale is closely related to climb in suggesting effort-filled upward movement, but it is more often restricted to the actual physical effort required for someone to surmount an obstacle. It also suggests a skilful dexterity or thoughtful effort: those who would scale the heights; scaling the wall to get word to his compatriots. Mount relates to scale and climb in that it can suggest a step-by-step process: slowly mounting the look-out point for a view of the bay; mounting his horse; tidewater slowly mounting the sloping beach.

Ascend and rise , unlike the foregoing, need not suggest laborious movement up an incline, but may refer instead to perpendicular movement through water or air: the moon ascending a cloudless sky; smoke rising from chimneys. Ascend , when it is used for movement up an incline, is more formal and less vivid than climb : ascending the steep face of the mountain. In metaphorical uses, the word can affect a religious or spiritual overtone: a prayer for peace ascending from the hearts of all men. Rise is even less colourful than ascend ; because of its openness to implications provided by context, is has a wide range of abstract uses: if prices rise .