Forms: 1 hlǽder, hlǽdder, 2–4 leddre, 4 Kent. lheddre, 3–5 (6 Sc.) ledder, 4–5 leddir(e, leddyr, 3–4 laddre, 4 laddir, 6– ladar, 6–7 lather, 4– ladder. [OE. hlǽd(d)er str. fem., corresp. to OFris. hleder, hladder-, MDu. lēdere (Du. leer, also ladder from Fris.), OHG. leitara (MHG., mod.G. leiter):—OTeut. *hlaidrjâ, f. Teut. root *hlĭ- : hlai- (whence LEAN v.):—Aryan *klĭ-: cf. Gr. κλῖμαξ ladder.]
1. An appliance made of wood, metal, or rope, usually portable, consisting of a series of bars (‘rungs’) or steps fixed between two supports, by means of which one may ascend to or descend from a height.
971. Blickl. Hom., 209. Þær wæs ʓewuna þæm folce … þæt hie æfter hlæddrum up to ðæm glæsenum fæte astiʓon.
c. 1000. Ælfric, Gen. xxviii. 12. Þa ʓeseah he on swefne standan ane hlædre fram eorðan to heofenan.
a. 1100. Gerefa, in Anglia (1886), IX. 263. Hlædre, horscamb and sceara.
c. 1250. Gen. & Ex., 1607. He … saȝ … fro ðe erðe up til heuene bem, A leddre stonden.
1297. R. Glouc. (Rolls), 3103. Hii … cables vette ynowe & laddren & leuours.
c. 1340. Cursor M., 3779 (Fairf.). In slepe a ladder him þoȝt he seyghe fra þe firmament riȝt to his eyghe.
1375. Barbour, Bruce, X. 642. Thai set thair ledder to the wall.
c. 1400. Destr. Troy, 4761. Þai wonyn on the wallis lightly with ladders.
1560. J. Daus, trans. Sleidane’s Chron. our Time, 159. The Emperour goynge forth as farre as the ladder of the shippe to mete him, receaveth him in.
1587. Fleming, Contn. Holinshed, III. 356/1. A lather of fourteene staves would but reach to the top.
1621. G. Sandys, Ovid’s Met., XIV. (1626), 298. [He] oft a lather took To gather fruit.
1726–7. Swift, Gulliver, I. i. 25. That several ladders should be applied to my sides, on which … the inhabitants mounted.
1840. Dickens, Old C. Shop, xl. Kit mounted half way up a short ladder.
† b. esp. The steps to a gallows. Chiefly in phr. to bring to the ladder. Groom of the ladder (jocular): a hangman. Obs.
a. 1533. Ld. Berners, Huon, lix. 204. [Iuoryn] commaundyd a .xxx. men to lede hym to ye galows & … they causyd the mynstrell to mount vp on ye ladder.
1594. Nashe, Unfort. Trav., Wks. 1883–4, V. 138. I … should haue been hanged, was brought to the ladder,… and yet for all that scap’d dancing in a hempen circle. Ibid., 151. Casting mee off the ladder. Ibid., 185. A fidler cannot turne his pin so soone, as he [an executioner] would turn a man of the ladder.
1601. Dent, Path-w. Heaven, 311. Many … haue been brought to the gallowes, and haue confessed vpon the ladder, that [etc.].
a. 1640. Day, Peregr. Schol. (1881), 72. A kinsman of myne that is grome of the ladder and yeoman of the corde.
1655. Gurnall, Chr. in Arm., xix. (1669), 233/2. The offer of a pardon comes too late to him that has turn’d himself off the Ladder.
c. fig. Also in phr. † To draw up the ladder after itself [cf. F. après lui il faut tirer l’échelle]: to be unapproachable. To see through a ladder: to see what is obvious. To kick down the ladder: said of persons who repudiate or ignore the friendships or associations by means of which they have risen in the world.
c. 1175. Lamb. Hom., 129. Ðis is sunfulla monna leddre.
a. 1225. Ancr. R., 354. And forði þet Dauid hefde þeos two stalen of þisse leddre, þauh he king were, he clomb upward.
1340. Ayenb., 246. Þis is þe laste stape of þe lheddre of perfeccion.
1377. Langl., P. Pl., B. XVI. 44. The Fende … leith a laddre there-to, of lesynges aren the ronges.
1477. Earl Rivers (Caxton), Dictes, 77. Men sette moche store by the foresayde science and was their opynion that it was the laddre to go vp into alle other sciences.
1593. Shaks., Rich. II., V. i. 55. Northumberland, thou Ladder wherewithall The mounting Bullingbrooke ascends my Throne.
a. 1625. Cope, in Gutch, Coll. Cur., I. 133. It is not the true way … for men to raise themselves by ladders of detraction.
1670. Lassels, Voy. Italy, I. 87. After the Domo, I saw the Church of the Annunciata, which draweth up the Ladder after it for neatness.
1794. Nelson, in Nicolas, Disp. (ed. 2), I. 449. Duncan is, I think, a little altered; there is nothing like kicking down the ladder a man rises by.
1843. Le Fevre, Life Trav. Phys., I. I. iv. 74. With these two houses alone I have worked up the medical ladder of my life.
1848. Thackeray, Book of Snobs, vii. (1872), 27. She has struggled so gallantly for polite reputation that she has won it: pitilessly kicking down the ladder as she advanced degree by degree.
1852. Mrs. Stowe, Uncle Tom’s C., vi. 37. Can’t ye see through a ladder, ye black nigger?
1868. Freeman, Norm. Conq. (1876), II. vii. 73. He now began to climb the ladder of preferment afresh.
2. With qualifying words indicating its use, construction, position, etc., as fire-, extension-, rope-, scaling-, step-ladder, etc. Also Naut., as accommodation, bowsprit, entering, gallery, quarter, stern ladder. Also JACOB’S LADDER.
1626. Capt. Smith, Accid. Yng. Sea-men, 13. An entring ladder or cleats.
1706. Phillips (ed. Kersey), s.v. Ladders, the Bolt-sprit-ladder, at the Beak-head, made fast over the Bolt-sprit, to get upon it.
1758. Sharp, in Naval Chron., VIII. 154. He … got into a boat from the stern ladder.
1769. Falconer, Dict. Marine (1780), s.v. Ladder, Accommodation Ladder, is a sort of light stair-case, occasionally fixed on the gangway of the admiral, or commander in chief, of a fleet. Ibid., Quarter-Ladders, two ladders of rope, depending from the right and left side of a ship’s stern.
3. Applied to things more or less resembling a ladder. Often with qualifying words, as cheese, cooper’s, paring ladder (see quots.); fish ladder (see FISH sb.1 7).
1688. R. Holme, Armoury, III. 318/2. The paring Ladder, or Coopers Ladder … By the help of this all Barrel Staves or Boards are held fast and sure while the Work-man is paring or shaving them. Ibid., 335/1. A Cheese Ladder … serveth to lay over the Cheese Tub for the Cheese Fat to rest upon, while the Dairy Woman presseth the Whay out of the Cruds. Ibid., 339/2. The Cart Lathers are the Crooked peeces set over the Cart wheels to keepe Hay and Straw loaden off them.
1851. Catal. Gt. Exhib., 376. Scotch cart … with ladders complete, so as to be used as a dung or harvest cart.
1875. Plain Needlework, 10. A crochet needle (to pick up the ladders in stockings).
1875. Knight, Dict. Mech., Ladder, a notched cleat or stick in a bookcase, for supporting shelves.
1883. Fisheries Exhib. Catal. (ed. 4), 90. Two Salmon Ladders, One Jumping Ladder, One Swimming Ladder.
1888. Lockwood’s Dict. Mech. Engin., Ladder, a series of mud buckets which are carried up and down in an oblique direction, for emptying and refilling in dredging operations.
1890. Wesleyan Methodist’s Mag., March, 162. A woven-ladder tape for Venetian blinds, in lieu of hand-made ladders.
1892. Daily News, 25 Jan., 3/3. The flowers are formed into ruches, which trim the skirt and are carried up the sides, with a ladder of ribbons between the lines.
4. In names of plants, as Christ’s ladder (see CHRIST 5). Ladder to Heaven (see quots.). Also JACOB’S LADDER.
1640. Parkinson, Theat. Bot., 699. Wee in English [call it] Salomons Scale most usually, but in some countries the people call it Ladder to Heaven,… from the forme of the stalks of leaves, one being set above another.
1760. J. Lee, Introd. Bot., App. (1765), 316. Ladder to Heaven, Convallaria.
1879. Britten & Holland, Plant-n., Ladder to Heaven. (1) Polemonium cæruleum, L. (2) Polygonatum multiflorum.
5. attrib. and Comb., a. simple attrib., as ladder foot, rung, † stale, stave; b. objective, as ladder-climber (in quot. fig.); c. instrumental, as ladder-travelling: ladder-bridged adj.; d. similative, as ladder-path, road; ladderwise adv.
1898. Westm. Gaz., 26 Aug., 8/2. The *ladder-bridged crevasse.
1870. Even. Standard, 17 Sept. The *ladder-climbers, who now direct the affairs of Paris.
c. 1470. Henryson, Mor. Fab., v. (Parl. Beasts) xliii. Syne furth him led, and to the gallowis gais, And at the *ledder-fute his leif he tais.
1814. S. Rogers, Jacquel., Poems (1839), 26. Up many a *ladder-path he guided.
1828. J. R. Best, Italy as it is, 30. We had descended many steps of the *ladder-road.
1620. in Swayne, Churchw. Acc. Sarum (1896), 171. For a peece of Timber to make *Ladder Rungs, 12d.
a. 1225. Ancr. R., 354. Þeos two [þinges] scheome and pine … beoð þe two *leddre stalen þet beoð upriht to þe heouene.
c. 1440. Promp. Parv., 293/1. *Leddyr stafe, scalarium.
1608. Willet, Hexapla Exod., 606. As ladder staues they were equally distant one from another.
1855. Cornwall, 156. The *ladder-travelling is rendered less fatiguing, by being varied and broken up into short journeys.
1593. Q. Eliz., Boethius, I. pr. 1. 7. Betwine bothe lettars, *ladarwise, certain steps wer marked.
6. Special comb.: ladder-braid, a kind of braid made on the lace-pillow; ladder-carriage, one for conveying fire-ladders (Knight, Dict. Mech., 1875); ladder company, detachment Mil. (see quot.); ladder-dance (see quot.); hence ladder-dancer; ladder-dredge, a dredge having buckets carried round on a ladder-like chain (Cent. Dict.); ladder-like a., resembling a ladder, gradational; also adv.; ladder-man, ‘in a fire-brigade, a member of a hook-and-ladder company’ (Cent. Dict.); ladder party = ladder detachment; ladder point, a form of ladder stitch; ladder shell, a marine shell of the genus Scalaria, a staircase-shell, wentletrap; ladder stitch, a cross-bar stitch in embroidery; ladder-truck, a vehicle for carrying fire-ladders and hooks; ladder-walker = ladder-dancer; ladder way, a ‘way’ by which one descends or ascends by means of a ladder, (a) in the deck of a ship, (b) in the shaft of a mine; ladder-work, work done with the help of a ladder, e.g., house-painting, etc. (Simmonds, Dict. Trade, 1858).
1882. Caulfeild & Saward, Dict. Needlework, 43. *Ladder braid.
1884. Mil. Engineering, I. II. 87. The men told off to one ladder (4 files or more, according to length of ladder) form a *‘ladder detachment’ and the detachments for one line of ladders form a *‘ladder company,’ or ‘ladder double company.’
1801. Strutt, Sports & Past., III. v. 173. The *Ladder-dance; so called, because the performer stands upon a ladder, which he shifts from place to place, and ascends or descends without losing the equilibrium, or permitting it to fall.
1709. Steele, Tatler, No. 12, ¶ 18. *Ladder-dancers, Rope-dancers, Jugglers.
1859. Cornwallis, New World, I. 21. A *ladder-like flight of steps.
1884. Bower & Scott, De Bary’s Phaner., 303. Parallel bundles,… connected in a ladder-like manner by transverse branches.
1897. Mary Kingsley, W. Africa, 565. The great parallel terraces over which, ladderlike, the neighbouring Congo has cut its bed.
1898. P. Manson, Trop. Diseases, x. 181. A gradual ladder-like rise [of temperature].
1884. Mil. Engineering, I. II. 98. It is always advisable to have officers and non-commissioned officers … with *ladder parties.
1891. A. H. Crawfurd, Gen. Crawfurd & Light Div., 230. Fleming … fell leading the ladder party … at Badajoz.
1882. Caulfeild & Saward, Dict. Needlework, 186. *Ladder stitch, there are two kinds of this stitch, the open, called *Ladder Point, or Point d’Echelle, in which the bars forming the stitch are taken across an open space, and the closed, known as Jacob, and Ship Ladder, in which the bars are worked on to the material itself.
1711. Steele, Spect., No. 258, ¶ 3. Why should not … *Ladder-walkers, and Posture-makers appear again on our Stage?
c. 1850. Rudim. Navig. (Weale), 128. *Ladder-ways, the openings in the decks wherein the ladders are placed.
1875. J. H. Collins, Metal Mining, 77. A shaft … large enough to allow of ample pumping space, a good ladder-way [etc.].
Hence nonce-wds. Ladderless a., having no ladder; Laddery a., resembling a ladder.
1852. Fraser’s Mag., XLVI. 455. Short flights of abrupt laddery steps.
1882. Daily Tel., 20 Oct., 4/8. The aforesaid golden bracelets were hung so high as to be beyond the ladderless reach of our predatory Saxon predecessors.
1897. P. Warung, Tales Old Regime, 78. They were separated from the surface by sixty feet of ladderless shaft.
