stepladder

[ step-lad-er ]

/ ˈstɛpˌlæd ər /

noun

a ladder having flat steps or treads in place of rungs.

any ladder, especially a tall one with a hinged frame opening up to form four supporting legs.

Words nearby stepladder

stephen vii, stephen viii, stephens, stephenson, stephenville, stepladder, stepmother, stepney, stepover, steppage, stepparent

Origin of stepladder

First recorded in 1745–55; step + ladder

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for stepladder

"I wonder if we couldn't bring in a stepladder for her," murmured the Skeptic in my ear.
A Court of Inquiry|Grace S. Richmond
She was taking the books2 from the lowest shelf, as she was afraid to climb the stepladder.
Peggy in Her Blue Frock|Eliza Orne White
Gissing, wise by now, knew that after a forager the mosquito always retires to the ceiling, so he kept a stepladder in the room.
Where the Blue Begins|Christopher Morley
There on the floor was the packing-case, there on the floor was a table to sit at, there against the wall stood a stepladder.
Angela's Business|Henry Sydnor Harrison

The picture is so large that she was obliged to use a stepladder to reach some parts of it.
Brooks's Readers, Third Year|Stratton D. Brooks

British Dictionary definitions for stepladder

stepladder

/ (ˈstɛpˌlædə) /

noun

a folding portable ladder that is made of broad flat steps fixed to a supporting frame hinged at the top to another supporting frame

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