I.
noun
1 piece of equipment for climbing up sth
ADJECTIVE
▪ rickety
▪ metal , wooden
▪ long , tall
▪ loft ( esp. BrE ), rope
▪ fire-escape
VERB + LADDER
▪ ascend , clamber up , climb , climb up , go up , mount , scale
▪
He went up the ~ onto the deck.
▪ come down , descend , go down
▪ put up
▪
We put up the ~ against the wall.
▪ fall off
PREPOSITION
▪ on a/the ~ , up a/the ~
▪
She was up a ~ fixing the roof.
▪ down a/the ~
▪
I was standing lower down the ~.
▪ ~ to
▪
the ~ to the gallery
PHRASES
▪ the bottom of a ~ , the foot of a ~ , the top of a ~
▪ a rung of a ~ , a step of a ~
▪
Several of the ladder's rungs were broken.
2 levels in a system
ADJECTIVE
▪ economic , evolutionary , social
▪
the people at the top of the social ~
▪ career , corporate , promotion
▪ housing , property (both BrE )
VERB + LADDER
▪ ascend , climb , move up
▪
She was anxious to move up the promotion ~.
▪ get onto
PREPOSITION
▪ higher up the ~
▪
creatures higher up the evolutionary ~
▪ lower down the ~
▪ ~ of
▪
the ~ of fame
▪ ~ to
▪
His good looks helped him on the ~ to success.
PHRASES
▪ get one foot on the ~ , have one foot on the ~ (both esp. BrE )
▪
He finally managed to get one foot on the career ~.
▪ a rung on the ~ , a step on the ~
▪
the old problem of how to get onto the first step on the ~
II.
verb
Ladder is used with these nouns as the subject: ↑ tights
Ladder is used with these nouns as the object: ↑ stocking , ↑ tights