ladder
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ladder
- /ˈlad.ə/ UK
- /ˈlæd.ɚ/ US
- [ˈlæɾ.ɚ] US
Sounds like latter (with flapping) · Rhymes with -ædə(ɹ)
Where it comes from
Inherited from Middle English ladder, laddre; from Old English hlǣder, from Proto-West Germanic *hlaidriju, from Proto-Germanic *hlaidrijō, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱlóydʰrom, from *ḱley- (“to lean”).
Compare Scots ledder, North Frisian ladder, Saterland Frisian Laadere, West Frisian ljedder, Dutch ladder, German Leiter; also Old Irish clithar (“hedge”), and Umbrian 𐌊𐌋𐌄𐌈𐌓𐌀𐌌 (kleθram, “stretcher”). See lean, which is related to lid.
Further cognates include Ashkun istrī, Kamkata-viri c̣ik, Prasuni čik, čix; Waigali c̣iř, Sanskrit श्रिति (śrití).
noun ladders · ledder
-
A frame, usually portable, of wood, metal, or rope, used for ascent and descent, consisting of two side pieces to which are fastened rungs (cross strips or rounds acting as steps).
The form of a man was seen to enter, and both the females rushed up the ladder, as if equally afraid of the consequences. The stranger secured the door, and first examining the lower room with great care, he cautiously ascended the ladder.
Similar: stepladder
- A series of stages by which one progresses to a better position. Newcastle had won both their previous fixtures in 2011 but were terribly disappointing at Broadhall Way against opponents 73 places below them in the footballing ladder.
- The hierarchy or ranking system within an organization, such as the corporate ladder. Many publicly held companies do have good working conditions, but they often employ mostly high-wage workers or offer different levels of working conditions and benefits to management employees than to workers at the bottom of the ladder.
-
A length of unravelled fabric in a knitted garment, especially in nylon stockings; a run.
Proposed Standard of Needlework to be required from Pupil-teachers at the Yearly Visits of Her Majesty's Inspectors. […] Darning Stockings.—To show a hole darned, and a thin place "run" (or strengthened), and a ladder properly taken up in a coarse worsted stocking.
Similar: run
- A sequence of moves following a zigzag pattern and ultimately leading to the capture of the attacked stones. The most dramatic introduction to the idea of how stones relate to each other over distance is how players react when a ladder (shicho, "she-ko"^([sic]) in Japanese) [シチョウ (shichō)] develops. […] Ouch! This is finding out about the ladder, which is called that because of the steplike shape that the
- A league table.
verb ladders · laddering · laddered · ledder
- To arrange or form into a shape of a ladder. And employing the innate gift for mimicry he'd always had – a gift which had made his father roar with laughter even when he was tired and feeling down – Jack 'did' Morgan Sloat. Age fell into his face as he laddered his brow the way Uncle Morgan's brow laddered into lines when he was pissed off abo
- To ascend (a building, a wall, etc.) using a ladder. The Rochdale climber spoken of once fell 70 feet from a mill at Linfitts, owing to an accident while he was laddering. He was terribly hurt, but recovered, and still carries on his trade with unshaken nerve.
- Of a knitted garment: to develop a ladder as a result of a broken thread. Oh damn it, I've laddered my tights!
- To close in on a target with successive salvos, increasing or decreasing the shot range as necessary. For eighteen minutes Revenge pounded the dockyard area at an average range of 15,700 yards, spreading for line and laddering for range to a prearranged plan to cover the whole target area.
- To corruptly coerce a convicted offender to admit to offences to be taken into consideration which they do not actually believe they committed, as a way to artificially increase the rate of solved crimes.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: ravel, run, scale, rung, stepladder, ramp, staircase, stairwell, stepping-stone, bag, purse, springboard, gangway, landing, range, scales
Translations
Every language
noun climbing tool
| Español | escalera, escala, escalera de mano, escalera portátil, escalera manual, escalera vertical |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 사다리 sadari, 사닥다리 sadakdari |
| 日本語 | 梯子 hashigo |
| 中文 | 梯子 tīzi, 扶梯 fútī |
| हिन्दी | सीढ़ी sīṛhī |
| Kiswahili | ngazi |
| Português | escada |
| Français | échelle |
| Deutsch | Leiter |
| Italiano | scala |
| Ελληνικά | σκάλα skála |
| Română | scară |
| Русский | ле́стница léstnica, стремя́нка stremjánka |
| Tiếng Việt | thang |
| العربية | سُلَّم sullam |
| עברית | סולם, סֻלָּם sulám |
noun the hierarchy or ranking system within an organization
| Español | escalafón |
|---|---|
| Русский | ле́стница léstnica |
noun length of unravelled fabric in a knitted garment
| Español | carrera |
|---|---|
| Deutsch | Laufmasche |
| Italiano | smagliatura |
| Ελληνικά | πόντος póntos |
| Русский | стре́лка strélka |
| עברית | רַכֶּבֶת rakévet |
Talk about this word "ladder." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/ladder. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. ladder. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/ladder "ladder." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/ladder.Cite this
@misc{ladder_2026,
title = {ladder},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/ladder},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
