ladder noun
1 piece of equipment for climbing up sth
ADJ. rickety | wooden | loft, rope
VERB + LADDER ascend, clamber up, climb (up), mount, go up He went up the ladder onto the deck. | come down, descend, go down | put up We put up the ladder and went to get the paint. | fall off, step off
PREP. on/up a/the ~ She was up a ladder mending the roof. | down a/the ~ I was standing lower down the ladder. | ~ to the ladder to the gallery
PHRASES the bottom/foot of a ladder, a rung/step of a ladder Several of the ladder's rungs were broken. | the top of a ladder
2 levels in a system
ADJ. evolutionary, social the people at the top of the social ladder | career, corporate, housing, promotion
VERB + LADDER ascend, climb, move up She was anxious to move up the promotion ladder. | get onto
PREP. higher up the ~ creatures higher up the evolutionary ladder | lower down the ~ | ~ of the ladder of fame | ~ to helping her on the ladder to success
PHRASES get/have one foot on the ladder He finally managed to get one foot on the career ladder. | a rung/step on the ladder the old problem of how to get onto the first step on the ladder
You can also check other dicts: ladder (English, 中文解释 ), wordnet sense, Collins Definition