ladder
Americannoun
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ladders
plural
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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.
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something resembling this.
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a means of rising, as to eminence.
the ladder of success.
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a graded series of stages or levels in status; a hierarchical order of position or rank.
high on the political ladder.
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Nautical. companionway.
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Chiefly British. a run in a stocking.
verb (used with object)
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ladders,
present (3rd person singular)
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laddered,
past participle, past
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laddering
present participle
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to climb or mount by means of a ladder.
to ladder a wall.
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to furnish with a ladder.
to ladder a water tower.
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Chiefly British. to cause a run in (a stocking).
verb (used without object)
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ladders,
present (3rd person singular)
-
laddered,
past participle, past
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laddering
present participle
-
Chiefly British. to get a run, as in a stocking.
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to gain in popularity or importance.
He laddered to the top of his profession.
noun
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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
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any hierarchy conceived of as having a series of ascending stages, levels, etc
the social ladder
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anything resembling a ladder
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( as modifier )
ladder stitch
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Also called: run. a line of connected stitches that have come undone in knitted material, esp stockings
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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laddersimple
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ladderssimple
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have ladderedperfect
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has ladderedperfect
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am ladderingprogressive
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are ladderingprogressive
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is ladderingprogressive
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have been ladderingperfect progressive
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has been ladderingperfect progressive
Past
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ladderedsimple
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had ladderedperfect
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was ladderingprogressive
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were ladderingprogressive
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had been ladderingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
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 lean 1
Explanation
If your ball lands on the roof, grab a ladder and climb up and get it. A ladder has steps you use to reach up high. If you climb the corporate ladder, you’re moving up in the business world. Some ladders are just a few feet tall, and others are taller than a house. Still others are invisible –- any time you move up in your career as a banker or NFL football player, you climb the ladder. In British English, a ladder is a run in stockings, which is funny because it usually looks like one. The superstition that it's bad luck to walk under an open ladder dates from the eighteenth century.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The disappearing belief that you can return to your previous rung on the career ladder is the other cause of workers’ paralysis.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 5, 2026
Levanon contends rapid advances in AI will stunt demand, perhaps permanently, for the sort of white-collar administrative work that used to be the first rung on the ladder for college graduates.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 29, 2026
Capped at £110,000 outside London and £140,000 in the capital, it is aimed at those hoping to get on the housing ladder without help from "the bank of mum and dad".
From BBC ● Oct. 28, 2026
The Los Angeles Fire Department lowered rescuers from a helicopter and an aerial ladder to pull at least two of the victims from the quick-moving waters, according to the agency.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 22, 2026
We took the buggy since it was only the three of us, and tied the ladder on the side.
From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck
The Firefighters wear firefighter-style uniforms, deploy ladders and enter via firetruck.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 27, 2026
You’re young, and that could mean several cycles of ladders, and you don’t know what inflation will be in 20 years.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 22, 2026
Inside the shop, the walls are lined with neatly organized shovels, pickaxes, and ladders.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 21, 2026
Some species may have acted as fire ladders, helping flames move through the landscape while also crowding out and smothering other vegetation.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 22, 2026
Waiting for them to cross a yawning crevasse bridged by two rickety ladders spliced end to end, I was shocked to see them go across together, almost in lockstep—a needlessly dangerous act.
From "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer
The ETF takes a laddered approach to investing in autocallables, resulting in staggered maturities.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 18, 2026
BDC managers tell Barron’s that public debt is just one part of their financing structure and that their debt is laddered with staggered maturities.
From Barron's ● Apr. 4, 2026
A dramatic musical score—like something out of a Marvel movie—plays loudly over clips of officers entering the windows of the garrisoned building, climbing on their laddered megatruck, and breaking the locks to the doors.
From Slate ● May 4, 2024
Rep. Andy Harris, Maryland Republican, pitched the idea of a laddered approach to draw in those who are leery of voting for a stopgap bill.
From Washington Times ● Nov. 9, 2023
His hand on the thin and laddered ribs.
From "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy
Calamos uses a strategy called laddering to try and manage this downside risk.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 18, 2026
We might start by adopting “relatively low-risk actions and laddering up boldness from there.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 21, 2025
When we talked two years ago before all this happened, the investment was really in gaming, and that was laddering into creators.
From The Verge ● Dec. 21, 2021
There are loads of ways to draw down your portfolio, including with annuities, bond laddering and simply selling off financial assets piecemeal.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 15, 2018
I was a scholarship boy at the time, busily laddering my way up the rungs of education.
From "Hunger of Memory" by Richard Rodriguez
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
