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.
ladder company.
ladder truck.
Nautical. companionway (def. 1).
Chiefly British. a run in a stocking.
verb (used with object)
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).
verb (used without object)
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
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
His “renormalization group,” which he first described in 1971, justified QED’s tortured calculations and supplied a ladder to climb the scales of universal systems.
How Mathematical ‘Hocus-Pocus’ Saved Particle Physics|Charlie Wood|September 17, 2020|Quanta Magazine
This approach means that when fires do occur, there’s often far more fuel to burn, and it acts as a ladder, allowing the flames to climb into the crowns and take down otherwise resistant mature trees.
Suppressing fires has failed. Here’s what California needs to do instead.|James Temple|September 17, 2020|MIT Technology Review
We have heard from others who feel they have to not appear “angry” or “aggressive” in order to move up the corporate ladder.
3 ways to make sure corporate diversity and inclusion efforts have a lasting impact|matthewheimer|August 31, 2020|Fortune
I worked on Capitol Hill and kept working my way up the ladder.
Full Transcript: Sean Spicer on ‘The Carlos Watson Show’|Daniel Malloy|August 26, 2020|Ozy
The fall in spending is especially pronounced at the bottom of the ladder.
Then when we arrive at his flat in Shepherd's Bush following the escape, perhaps there ought to be remnants of the ladder.
Alfred Hitchcock’s Fade to Black: The Great Director’s Final Days|David Freeman|December 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Then, a sharp-eyed woman pointed out a ladder leaning against a tree on the side of the pond.
Philippe Petit’s Moment of Concern Walking the WTC Tightrope|Anthony Haden-Guest|August 8, 2014|DAILY BEAST
I threw all the food on the floor and I had a friend of mine get up on a ladder and photograph me lying in the middle of it.
An Artist Explores the Complicated Relationship Between Women and Food|Erin Cunningham|May 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST
I remember climbing the ladder, and then trying to stand up there because I thought it was solid.
Hallucinating Away a Heroin Addiction|Abby Haglage|May 4, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Still, not everyone was as tight lipped about poverty on the lower rungs of ladder as Obama was.
Obama Misfires in the War on Poverty|Lloyd Green|January 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
He did not enter with flying colors, for Joe was no great scholar, but he was by no means at the foot of the ladder.
Baseball Joe at Yale|Lester Chadwick
He jerked the ladder from side to side till the hooks above lost their hold and it fell, so that he drew it in.
Wulfric the Weapon Thane|Charles W. Whistler
In a few moments he gave an exclamation, and then he came down from the ladder so rapidly that he barely missed falling.
The Great Stone of Sardis|Frank R. Stockton
Love is the ladder by which we climb up to the likeness of God.
Leaves of Life|Margaret Bird Steinmetz
With one bound Jim was back to the ladder, and was quickly on deck.
Frontier Boys in the South Seas|Wyn Roosevelt
British Dictionary definitions for ladder
ladder
/ (ˈlædə) /
noun
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, etcthe social ladder
anything resembling a ladder
(as modifier)ladder stitch
Also called: runmainlyBritisha line of connected stitches that have come undone in knitted material, esp stockings
See ladder tournament
verb
mainlyBritishto cause a line of interconnected stitches in (stockings, etc) to undo, as by snagging, or (of a stocking) to come undone in this way
Word Origin for ladder
Old English hlǣdder; related to Old High German leitara