laddernoun/ˈlad.ə/

• 1

  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.
  • Ladders are heavy and unwieldy. Handle them properly to avoid damaging property and to make sure you don't injure yourself. Carry a ladder upright, not slung across your shoulder. Hold the ladder vertically, bend your knees slightly, then rock the ladder back against your shoulder. Grip one rung lower down while you support the ladder at head height with your other hand, and then straighten your knees.
• 2

  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.
• 3

  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.
• 4

  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.
  • You've got a huge ladder in your stockings. I've got a spare pair in my bag, come to the Ladies and you can change.
• 5

  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 defending stones are forced into.
• 6

  hobbieslifestylesportsA league table.

ladderverb/ˈlad.ə/

• 1

  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 about something.
  • By means of repeated bifurcations, [Carl] Linnaeus provided a five-tier botanic hierarchy. He laddered the plant kingdom downward from classes to orders, genera, species, and varieties.
• 2

  firefightinggovernmentTo 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.
  • A good working knowledge of the ladder parts, how they work, their capacities, and proper usage are a must before anyone is sent out to ladder a building.
• 3

  Of a knitted garment: to develop a ladder as a result of a broken thread.

  • Oh damn it, I've laddered my tights!
  • He slid his hand up her skirt and murmured in her ear. / "Robert, I've just got dressed. Stop it." […] / He laddered her stocking and smudged her lipstick, but she had time to repair the damage before they went out.
• 4

  slanggovernmentmilitarynavalTo 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.
  • Laddering made it possible to get a few hits on a fast-moving, often manoeuvring, target.
• 5

  governmentlaw-enforcementTo 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.