Definition of Ladder

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


2. Verb. Come unraveled or undone as if by snagging. "Her nylons were running"
Exact synonyms: Run
Related verbs: Run, Unravel
Generic synonyms: Break, Come Apart, Fall Apart, Separate, Split Up
Derivative terms: Run

3. Noun. Ascending stages by which somebody or something can progress. "He climbed the career ladder"
Generic synonyms: Degree, Level, Point, Stage

4. Noun. A row of unravelled stitches. "She got a run in her stocking"
Exact synonyms: Ravel, Run
Generic synonyms: Damage, Harm, Impairment
Derivative terms: Ravel, Ravel, Run

Definition of Ladder

1. n. A frame usually portable, of wood, metal, or rope, for ascent and descent, consisting of two side pieces to which are fastened cross strips or rounds forming steps.

Definition of Ladder

1. Noun. A frame usually portable, of wood, metal, or rope, for ascent and descent, consisting of two side pieces to which are fastened cross strips or rounds forming steps. ¹

2. Noun. That which resembles a ladder in form or use; hence, that by means of which one attains to eminence, e.g. the corporate ladder. ¹

3. Noun. (chiefly British) length of unravelled fabric in a knitted garment, especially in nylon stockings ¹

4. Noun. In the game of go, a sequence of moves following a zigzag pattern and ultimately leading to the capture of the attacked stones. ¹

5. Verb. (firefighting) To ascend a building or wall using a ladder. ¹

6. Verb. (context: of a knitted garment) To develop a ladder as a result of a broken thread ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Ladder

1. to cause a run in a stocking [v -ED, -ING, -S]

Medical Definition of Ladder

1. 1. A frame usually portable, of wood, metal, or rope, for ascent and descent, consisting of two side pieces to which are fastened cross strips or rounds forming steps. "Some the engines play, And some, more bold, mount ladders to the fire." (Dryden) 2. That which resembles a ladder in form or use; hence, that by means of which one attains to eminence. "Lowliness is young ambition's ladder." (Shak) Fish ladder. See Fish. Ladder beetle, a spiral marine shell of the genus Scalaria. See Scalaria. Origin: OE. Laddre, AS. Hlder, hldder; akin to OFries. Hladder, OHG.leitara, G. Leiter, and from the root of E. Lean, v. See Lean, and cf. Climax. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Ladder

lacunous
lacunule
lacus
lacus lacrimalis
lacustral
lacustrine
lacwork
lacworks
lacy
lad
lad's love
lad culture
ladanum
ladanums
ladder (current term)
ladder-back
ladder-back chair
ladder-proof
ladder logic
ladder polyether
ladder snake
ladder snakes
ladder splint
ladder truck
ladderane
ladderanes
laddered
laddering
ladderless

Literary usage of Ladder

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Utopia by Thomas More (1869)
"... the toppe of the ladder or ... Nowe the nether ende of the ladder is. ... This is the fote of the ladder, fo that we maye go ..."

2. Darkness and Daylight; Or, Lights and Shadows of New York Life: A Woman's by Helen Campbell, Thomas Wallace Knox, Thomas Byrnes (1892)
"This ladder is a long pole, with short rungs projecting on both sides, ... Any height can be reached by a skilled fireman with a scaling ladder, ..."

3. The Invasion of the Crimea: Its Origin, and an Account of Its Progress Down by Alexander William Kinglake (1887)
"ladder- ' •' n •party.' They were, all of them, lying on the ground, some close to the Abattis, others less far advanced. There were some that had no ..."

4. Transactions of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers by American Society of Mechanical Engineers (1918)
"DEFINITIONS The term Fixed ladder as used in these regulations means a ladder that is substantially fastened to a structure in a fixed position. ..."

5. The Encyclopaedia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and General by Thomas Spencer Baynes (1888)
"Suppose a ladder to be leaning against a vertical lower end, will just suffice ... 62, the wall exerts an outward thrust S on the upper end of the ladder, ..."

6. South Eastern Reporter by West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals, West Publishing Company, South Carolina Supreme Court (1911)
"Whether a tannery employé assumed the risk of being injured through a ladder slipping as he was climbing from a vat held, under the evidence, ..."

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