ladders

noun

plural of ladder
as in hierarchies
a scheme of rank or order their team placed third on the tournament ladder

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of ladders Some staff escaped the burning building by climbing from windows down firefighters’ ladders. — Hanna Arhirova, Los Angeles Times, 28 Sep. 2026 There are two aluminum ladders on the wall, and students have 12 minutes to climb up and down 10 times. — Harry Bruinius, Christian Science Monitor, 28 Sep. 2026 But because a film shoot is kind of boring, most of us abandoned the ladders after an hour, leaving my brother to watch the rest of the filming alone. — Sarah Shanfield, Vulture, 11 Sep. 2026 To find their bodies, that afternoon Comella and other firemen traversed the steep, smoldering steel mountain using a series of ladders, a process not unlike the way trekkers negotiate the treacherous Khumbu ice fall at the base of Mount Everest. — Peter Wilkinson, Rolling Stone, 11 Sep. 2026 On top of that, police urge folks to lock their doors, cars and sheds and even keep ladders away from houses. — Tammy Mutasa, CBS News, 10 Sep. 2026 The initial phase of work first began around two years ago, removing the metal silos and other immediately dangerous items, like ladders frequently used by trespassers and rusty metal pieces around the property. — Jenna Ebbers, Kansas City Star, 3 Sep. 2026 The finished basement adds two extra bedrooms, one featuring bunk beds reached by steps, not temporary ladders. — Richard Lane, Des Moines Register, 31 Aug. 2026 As impressive as many space-saving tiny houses are, not everyone is cut out for climbing into small lofts using movable ladders, or sleeping on a sofa bed every night. — New Atlas, 30 Aug. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ladders
  1. hierarchies
  2. rankings
  3. scales
  4. series
Noun
  • How far might a nation go that had no kings to depose, no entrenched hierarchies to uproot, a country so young and iconoclastic and resource-rich?
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 15 Oct. 2026
  • To navigate this acceleration, leadership must shift from rigid hierarchies to horizontal agility—partnering across boundaries to follow the fluid flow of value.
    — Stephanie Kramer, Fortune, 10 Oct. 2026
Definition of hierarchies
Noun
  • Texas dominated many national rankings in the report as well, with the ZIP code encompassing the Dallas suburb of Crandall ranking second on the list and a more urban Dallas ZIP code ranking 10th.
    — Faith Bugenhagen, Austin American Statesman, 28 Feb. 2026
Definition of rankings
Noun
  • Atmospheric fluctuations on shorter weekly or daily scales, such as sudden stratospheric warming events, polar vortex disruptions, or shifts in the Arctic Oscillation, can temporarily override the overarching El Niño pattern.
    — Ahmad Bajjey, CBS News, 16 Oct. 2026
  • But even those examples fall far short of the sort of figures that would tilt the scales in any outcomes.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of scales
Noun
  • Keery appeared in several independent films throughout Stranger Things as well as in the television series Fargo.
    — Caitlin Huston, HollywoodReporter, 17 Oct. 2026
  • In an attempt to uncover what might be going on in her mind, Fielder travels to a farm in upstate New York to meet actress Amanda Seyfried, who played Holmes to much acclaim in the 2022 Hulu series The Dropout.
    — Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 17 Oct. 2026
Definition of series

Browse Nearby Words

ladder
ladders
laddie
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Cite this Entry

“Ladders.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ladders. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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