unscalableadj.
/(ˌ)ʌnˈskeɪləbl/, U.S. /ˌənˈskeɪləb(ə)l/ (un- prefix1 1b.)
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > upward movement > [adjective] > climbing > that may be climbed > not
unclimbablec1540
unmountablec1550
unscalable1579
unascendable1615
insuperable1660
inscalablea1680
unascendible1801
1579–80 T. North tr. Plutarch Lives (1595) 1083 After he had measured the height of the wall, he reported that the place was not vnscalable.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Cymbeline (1623) iii. i. 20 Your Isle, which stands As Neptunes Parke, ribb'd, and pal'd in With Oakes vnskaleable. View more context for this quotation
1652 P. Heylyn Cosmographie iii. sig. Ttt3v High and unscalable walls.
1751 R. Paltock Life Peter Wilkins I. x. 91 I saw no Entrance into the Island..nor any thing but the same unscalable Rock.
1818 J. Keats Endymion iii. 106 There are throned seats unscalable But by a patient wing.
1850 T. T. Lynch Memorials Theophilus Trinal xi. 211 The frowning unscalable rocks of worldly custom.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1926; most recently modified version published online December 2020).
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adj.1579