ladder

7 definitions • 9 examples

a piece of equipment used for climbing up and down, that consists of two vertical bars or pieces of rope joined to each other by a set of horizontal steps:

She was up a ladder, cleaning the window.

a series of increasingly important jobs or stages in a particular type of work or process:

Once he started at Paramount in 1967, he moved rapidly up the corporate ladder.

a first rung/step on the employment ladder

a long, vertical hole in a pair of tights or a stocking

(in particular sports) a system in which all the players who play regularly are given a position in a list and can improve their position by beating other players in that list:

a squash ladder

If a pair of tights or a stocking ladders or if you ladder it, a long hole appears in it:

Damn! That's the second pair of tights I've laddered today!

a piece of equipment used for climbing up and down, and consisting of two vertical bars joined by a set of horizontal steps:

fig. In only a few years she managed to climb up the corporate ladder (= achieve success in the business world) to become a vice president.

a way of referring to a series of increasingly important jobs, or stages in a particular type of work or process:

Most top executives had to climb the ladder.

These entry-level jobs will offer you a chance to get your foot on the first rung of the employment ladder.

First-time buyers are desperate to get on the housing ladder.