ladder

Universal Words noun, verb noun 1 a piece of equipment for climbing up and down a wall, the side of a building, etc., consisting of two lengths of wood or metal that are joined together by steps or RUNGS: to climb up / fall off a ladder seealsoSTEPLADDER 2 [usuallysing.] a series of stages by which you can make progress in a career or an organization: to move up or down the social ladder * the career ladder 3 (BrE) (AmE run) a long thin hole in TIGHTS or STOCKINGS where some threads have broken verb [V, VN] (BrE) if TIGHTS or STOCKINGS ladder or you ladder them, a long thin hole appears in them