Meaning & use
the ladder
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Meanings
phrasefixed phrasefigurative
The ordered set of job levels in a company or profession, seen as steps a person climbs to gain seniority and pay.
Grammar: Always with the: she moved up the ladder, not a ladder, when you mean career levels.
Patterns
- climb the ladder
- move up the ladder
- at the bottom of the ladder
Maria started in the mailroom and worked her way up the ladder to regional manager.
Many young lawyers feel pressure to climb the ladder as quickly as they can.
He was already near the top of the ladder when the company merged with a rival.
phrasefixed phraseBritishfigurative
The stages of buying a home, from a first small purchase to larger and more expensive houses later on.
Grammar: Usually appears as the property ladder or the housing ladder, with verbs like get on or move up.
Patterns
- get on the ladder
- move up the ladder
Saving a deposit is the hardest step in getting on the ladder.
They sold their flat and moved up the ladder to a house with a garden.
Rising prices have pushed young families off the ladder altogether.
Common combinations
- climb the ladder
- She was willing to climb the ladder one rung at a time.
- move up the ladder
- Two promotions in three years helped him move up the ladder.
- bottom of the ladder
- New hires usually begin at the bottom of the ladder.
- top of the ladder
- Few people at the top of the ladder remember what entry-level work felt like.
- kick away the ladder
- Some executives kick away the ladder once they have succeeded, blocking others from following.
Synonyms and how they differ
- hierarchy
- Hierarchy names the whole ranked structure, while the ladder stresses a person climbing through it.
- pecking order
- Pecking order is informal and stresses who has power over whom, not the path someone follows upward.
- career path
- Career path describes the route a person takes, whereas the ladder pictures fixed levels that already exist.
Word family
Commonly confused: the ladder or latter?
the ladder vs latter
Latter means the second of two things just mentioned. Many American speakers pronounce ladder and latter almost identically, so check the spelling.
Practice
After ten years at the firm, Dana had risen to the top of ___ and was considered for CEO.
Choose one answer.
The ladder means the levels of a career. Latter is a different word, and the other options do not work as the usual fixed idea.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “the ladder”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.