ladder

[ lad-er ]
See synonyms for ladder on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. 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.

  2. something resembling this.

  1. a means of rising, as to eminence: the ladder of success.

  2. a graded series of stages or levels in status; a hierarchical order of position or rank: high on the political ladder.

  3. Chiefly British. a run in a stocking.

verb (used with object)
  1. to climb or mount by means of a ladder: to ladder a wall.

  2. to furnish with a ladder: to ladder a water tower.

  1. Chiefly British. to cause a run in (a stocking).

verb (used without object)
  1. Chiefly British. to get a run, as in a stocking.

  2. to gain in popularity or importance: He laddered to the top of his profession.

Origin of ladder

1
First recorded before 1000; Middle English ladder(e), Old English hlǣd(d)er; cognate with German Leiter, Dutch leer (also ladder, from Frisian); akin to Gothic hleithra “tent, hut”; originally, “something that slopes or leans”; see also lean1

Other words from ladder

  • lad·der·less, adjective
  • lad·der·like, lad·der·y, adjective

Words that may be confused with ladder

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use ladder in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for ladder

ladder

/ (ˈlædə) /


noun
  1. 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

  2. any hierarchy conceived of as having a series of ascending stages, levels, etc: the social ladder

    • anything resembling a ladder

    • (as modifier): ladder stitch

  1. Also called: run mainly British a line of connected stitches that have come undone in knitted material, esp stockings

verb
  1. 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

1
Old English hlǣdder; related to Old High German leitara

Collins 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

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.