word choice - Do you walk up or climb stairs


Is it more correct to say "I climbed up the stairs" or "I walked up the stairs"?


Climb is defined as



go or come up a (slope or staircase); ascend.



Walk is defined as



an act of travelling or an outing on foot.



Both are theoretically correct, but is one more correct than the other?



Answer



From Merriam-Webster:



climb: to move or go up (something) using your feet and often your hands



From Dictionary.com:



climb: to ascend, go up, or get to the top of, especially by the use of the hands and feet or feet alone or by continuous or strenuous effort: to climb a rope; to climb the stairs; to climb a mountain



Because climb when used without an adverb or prepositional phrase (e.g., over, over the rocks, down, down the stairs) implies "up", one should leave out "up" in this case.


So, either of the following would be equally correct:



I climbed the stairs. (Not "I climbed up the stairs.")


OR


I walked up the stairs.



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