ladders

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of ladder.

   Several ladders leaned against the scaffolding overnight.

   Firefighters extended their ladders toward the upper windows.

   Note

   The plural carries every meaning of the singular, not just the climbing frame. In British usage, ladders in a pair of tights are runs, lengths of unravelled knitting. Figuratively, a career or an organization can have several ladders to climb. The same spelling also serves as the verb form and as the "pair of ladders" noun, so context decides which is meant.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of ladder.

   A cautious investor ladders bond maturities to smooth out changes in interest rates.

   The fund ladders its Treasury holdings from one to ten years.

   Note

   A present-tense form that works both with and without an object. A stocking ladders on its own when a thread breaks, while a climber ladders a wall by going up it with a ladder. British usage adds two narrower meanings: closing in on a target with successive salvos, and corruptly pressing a convicted offender to admit extra offenses to inflate the rate of solved crimes.

3. 3
   nounplural

   A single ladder, referred to in the plural as a pair; one climbing frame of rungs between two side rails.

   Like calling one garment "a pair of trousers" even though it is a single item.

   The decorator brought a sturdy pair of ladders for the stairwell.

   He balanced the ladders carefully before climbing to the roof.

   Note

   A plural-only noun, like scissors or trousers: one object, grammatically plural. It takes a plural verb (the ladders are by the door) and is counted with pair, so two of them are two pairs of ladders. Without pair it is easily mistaken for the ordinary plural, which means several separate ladders.

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