ladder

Everyday

1. A ladder is a piece of equipment for climbing up and down, with two long side pieces joined by steps called rungs. tree →
2. A ladder is a series of levels you can move up, like a career ladder. tree →
3. In British English, a ladder is a line of broken threads in tights (in the USA, a «run»). tree →

In the lessons

In safety lessons: only use a ladder with an adult nearby, make sure it stands on flat, firm ground, keep three points of contact (two hands and a foot, or two feet and a hand), never lean too far to the side. Firefighters use long ladders to rescue people. In games, «Snakes and Ladders» (Chutes and Ladders in the USA) is a board game where ladders take you up. In maths, a ladder against a wall makes a right-angled triangle. Phrases: «climb a ladder», «go up the ladder», «step ladder», «rope ladder», «Snakes and Ladders».

Examples

• Dad climbed the ladder to clean the gutters. tree →
• Hold the ladder steady for me. tree →
• The firefighter carried the child down the ladder. tree →
• I landed on a ladder in Snakes and Ladders. tree →
• The treehouse has a rope ladder. tree →
• Don't walk under a ladder; something might fall on you. tree →
• My tights have a ladder in them. tree →
• She worked her way up the ladder to become head teacher. tree →
• Are you standing on a ladder?" tree →

Note

Plural ladders. Do not confuse with «latter» (the second of two) or «larder» (a cupboard for food). Walking under a ladder being unlucky is a superstition, but it can be unsafe because tools may fall.

In Jewish tradition

Jacob's ladder shows a link between earth and heaven, with God standing above and promising him the land and many children.

Interpretation. The rabbis read it as showing that people can rise toward God through their actions, and some saw the angels as a picture of the nations' rise and fall.

Examples

• And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven; and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it. (Torah GEN.28.12, JPS 1917) tree →
• Eliphas Lévi, the famous French Occultist, thus wrote of the "Sepher Yetzirah," in his "Histoire de la Magie," P. 54: "The Zoharis a Genesis of illumination, the Sepher Jezirah is a ladder formed of truths. (Sefer Yetzirah, Westcott 1893) tree →

Note

Plural ladders. Do not confuse with «latter» (the second of two) or «larder» (a cupboard for food). Walking under a ladder being unlucky is a superstition, but it can be unsafe because tools may fall.