LADDER

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does ladder mean? 

• LADDER (noun)
  The noun LADDER has 3 senses:

1. steps consisting of two parallel members connected by rungs; for climbing up or down

2. ascending stages by which somebody or something can progress

3. a row of unravelled stitches

  Familiarity information: LADDER used as a noun is uncommon.

• LADDER (verb)
  The verb LADDER has 1 sense:

1. come unraveled or undone as if by snagging

  Familiarity information: LADDER used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• LADDER (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Steps consisting of two parallel members connected by rungs; for climbing up or down

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("ladder" is a kind of...):

stairs; steps (a flight of stairs or a flight of steps)

Meronyms (parts of "ladder"):

rundle; rung; spoke (one of the crosspieces that form the steps of a ladder)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "ladder"):

articulated ladder (a ladder consisting of segments (usually four) that are held together by joints that can lock in place)

extension ladder (a ladder whose length can be extended)

jack ladder; Jacob's ladder; pilot ladder ((nautical) a hanging ladder of ropes or chains supporting wooden or metal rungs or steps)

monkey ladder (a light ladder to the monkey bridge on a ship)

rope ladder (a ladder with side pieces of rope)

scaling ladder (a ladder used to scale walls (as in an attack))

sea ladder; sea steps ((nautical) ladder to be lowered over a ship's side for coming aboard)

step ladder; stepladder (a folding portable ladder hinged at the top)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Ascending stages by which somebody or something can progress

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Context example:

he climbed the career ladder

Hypernyms ("ladder" is a kind of...):

degree; level; point; stage (a specific identifiable position in a continuum or series or especially in a process)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A row of unravelled stitches

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Synonyms:

ladder; ravel; run

Context example:

she got a run in her stocking

Hypernyms ("ladder" is a kind of...):

damage; harm; impairment (the occurrence of a change for the worse)

Derivation:

ladder (come unraveled or undone as if by snagging)

• LADDER (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they ladder    ... he / she / it ladders   
Past simple: laddered   
Past participle: laddered   
-ing form: laddering   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Come unraveled or undone as if by snagging

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

ladder; run

Context example:

Her nylons were running

Hypernyms (to "ladder" is one way to...):

break; come apart; fall apart; separate; split up (become separated into pieces or fragments)

Verb group:

run; unravel (become undone)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Derivation:

ladder (a row of unravelled stitches)

 Context examples 

This was to fight his way across the floor to the ladder.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

The Lion climbed the ladder next, and the Tin Woodman came last; but both of them cried, "Oh, my!" as soon as they looked over the wall.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

These chemical bonds act like rungs in a ladder and help hold the two strands of DNA together.

(Base pair, NCI Dictionary)

“If that is the ladder by which one mounts, I too will try my fortune,” said he, and the next day when it began to grow dark, he went to the tower.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

And in this way he managed that your good man should have no want of drink, and that a ladder should be ready at the moment when your master had gone out.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A cellular response that is characteristic of apoptosis is fragmentation of the nuclear genome to create a nucleosomal ladder.

(Apoptotic DNA Fragmentation Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)

The result is a ladder of bands, representing the various sites at which DNase I cuts.

(DNase-I Footprinting, NCI Thesaurus)

There is a strong indication that the work you are doing now is about to lead you up the ladder of success, to a position of greater power, influence, and responsibility.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

You don’t take a ladder at one jump, but you do it rung by rung.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I followed still, up a very narrow staircase to the attics, and thence by a ladder and through a trap-door to the roof of the hall.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)