scaling ladder

American  

noun

1. a ladder for climbing high walls.

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scaling ladder British  

noun

1. a ladder used to climb high walls, esp one used formerly to enter a besieged town, fortress, etc

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Etymology

Origin of scaling ladder

Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400

Example Sentences

Every rung of the scaling ladder being raised for the storming of the German defences on land and sea was planed and polished in the British Foreign Office.

From The Crime Against Europe A Possible Outcome of the War of 1914 by Casement, Roger

The flames were licking around the scaling ladder, which was already blazing.

From The Gray Dawn by White, Stewart Edward

Among them was Captain Bate, of the Actaeon, who was killed while about to mount a scaling ladder.

From How Britannia Came to Rule the Waves Updated to 1900 by Kingston, William Henry Giles

She said besides, that she was the first to place a scaling ladder on the bastile of the bridge, and as she raised it she was struck in the neck.

From Jeanne D'Arc: her life and death by Oliphant, Mrs. (Margaret)

A scaling ladder, it may be explained to the uninitiated, is about eight feet long—a single fire-proof bar, on which are short cross-pieces.

From The Voice on the Wire by Ball, Eustace Hale