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stepladder

American  
[step-lad-er] / ˈstɛpˌlæd ər /

noun

  • stepladders
    plural
  1. a ladder having flat steps or treads in place of rungs.

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


stepladder British  
/ ˈstɛpˌlædə /

noun

  1. 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

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms


Etymology

Origin of stepladder

First recorded in 1745–55; step + ladder


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:

Why ask someone else to climb a stepladder to reach a cobweb?

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 5, 2026

"I thought I could have a piece of the Moon, somehow, touching someone's foot, somehow connected with my stepladder, somehow in my living room," she said.

From BBC ● Apr. 22, 2026

On a recent Sunday, in a makeshift structure used as a halfway house for adolescent bats, he climbed a stepladder to fill a water bucket hanging on the wall for the bats.

From New York Times ● Apr. 4, 2023

They sprung into action and found it on a stepladder where I had apparently set it while looking at Halloween cards for my grandchildren.

From Seattle Times ● Sep. 26, 2022

It was so high that there was no way to get inside without a stepladder.

From "Zeitoun" by Dave Eggers

For days afterward, Medina sifted through the burned-out garage for his angle saws and stepladders, but they had all been destroyed.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 22, 2025

She added there needed to be an increased recognition and rigour within the industry to address the risks associated with stepladders.

From BBC ● May 16, 2023

The best prepared had tents, flasks of tea, sandwiches and stepladders.

From Reuters ● Sep. 19, 2022

In this town, we use railroad ties to lay track, and stepladders are for cleaning rain spouts, not climbing out of bunkers.

From Golf Digest ● Apr. 17, 2020

Narrow wooden stepladders on casters stood by the shelves, ready to help any reader up to the top shelves.

From "Inkheart" by Cornelia Funke

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