ladder
a structure of wood, metal, or rope, commonly consisting of two sidepieces between which a series of bars or rungs are set at suitable distances, forming a means of climbing up or down.
something resembling this.
a means of rising, as to eminence: the ladder of success.
a graded series of stages or levels in status; a hierarchical order of position or rank: high on the political ladder.
Nautical. companionway (def. 1).
Chiefly British. a run in a stocking.
to climb or mount by means of a ladder: to ladder a wall.
to furnish with a ladder: to ladder a water tower.
Chiefly British. to cause a run in (a stocking).
Chiefly British. to get a run, as in a stocking.
to gain in popularity or importance: He laddered to the top of his profession.
Origin of ladder
1Other words from ladder
- lad·der·less, adjective
- lad·der·like, lad·der·y, adjective
Words that may be confused with ladder
- ladder , latter
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use ladder in a sentence
And the raise was ladderless: a vertical opening, whose hard rock walls were too slippery for even a Cornishman to climb.
We seemed each moment about to plunge into ladderless abysses.
The Trail of the Goldseekers | Hamlin Garland
British Dictionary definitions for ladder
/ (ˈlædə) /
a portable framework of wood, metal, rope, etc, in the form of two long parallel members connected by several parallel rungs or steps fixed to them at right angles, for climbing up or down
any hierarchy conceived of as having a series of ascending stages, levels, etc: the social ladder
anything resembling a ladder
(as modifier): ladder stitch
Also called: run mainly British a line of connected stitches that have come undone in knitted material, esp stockings
mainly British to cause a line of interconnected stitches in (stockings, etc) to undo, as by snagging, or (of a stocking) to come undone in this way
Origin of ladder
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with ladder
see bottom of the ladder.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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