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PlainSpell

ladder

lad·der/ˈlæd.ɚ/noun, verb

ladder is spelled L-A-D-D-E-R: 6 letters and 2 syllables (lad·der). It appears 11 times per million words in written English, the 6,784th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “ladder vs latter” about 2,400 times a month (Google, United States). As a noun, ladder means “A frame, usually portable, of wood, metal, or rope, used for ascent and descent, consisting of two side pieces to which are fastened rungs (cross…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of ladder is ladders.

How many letters and syllables are in ladder?

Letters6: L-A-D-D-E-R
Syllables2: lad·der
In writing11 times per million words; the 6,784th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Pairs people search
Rhymes with
Same letters

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is ladder?

Ladder appears 11 times per million words in written English, the 6,784th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce ladder?

  • UK /ˈlad.ə/
  • US /ˈlæd.ɚ/
  • US [ˈlæɾ.ɚ]

Ladder has 2 syllables, split lad·der in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-ladder.ogg, En-au-ladder.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with ladder

Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).

ladder vs latter2,400 G

Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

What rhymes with ladder?

3 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as ladder from its last stressed vowel (/ædəɹ/):

Spelled with the same letters in another order: raddle.

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of ladder

  • ladders plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • laddering participle, present
  • laddered participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does ladder mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    A frame, usually portable, of wood, metal, or rope, used for ascent and descent, consisting of two side pieces to which are fastened rungs (cross strips or rounds acting as steps).

  2. 2

    A series of stages by which one progresses to a better position.

  3. 3

    The hierarchy or ranking system within an organization, such as the corporate ladder.

  4. 4

    UKA length of unravelled fabric in a knitted garment, especially in nylon stockings; a run.

  5. 5

    A sequence of moves following a zigzag pattern and ultimately leading to the capture of the attacked stones.

  6. 6

    AustraliaA league table.

verb

  1. 1

    To arrange or form into a shape of a ladder.

  2. 2

    To ascend (a building, a wall, etc.) using a ladder.

  3. 3

    Of a knitted garment: to develop a ladder as a result of a broken thread.

    Oh damn it, I've laddered my tights!

  4. 4

    UKslangTo close in on a target with successive salvos, increasing or decreasing the shot range as necessary.

  5. 5

    UKTo corruptly coerce a convicted offender to admit to offences to be taken into consideration which they do not actually believe they committed, as a way to artificially increase the rate of solved crimes.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Ladder in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchéchelle (climbing tool)
GermanLeiter (climbing tool), Laufmasche (length of unravelled fabric in a knitted garment)
Portugueseescada (climbing tool)
Spanishescalera, escala, escalera de mano, escalera portátil, escalera manual, escalera vertical (climbing tool)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does ladder come from?

Inherited from Middle English ladder, laddre; from Old English hlǣder, from Proto-West Germanic *hlaidriju, from Proto-Germanic *hlaidrijō, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱlóydʰrom, from *ḱley- (“to lean”). Compare Scots ledder, North Frisian ladder, Saterland Frisian Laadere, West Frisian ljedder, Dutch ladder, German Leiter; also Old Irish clithar (“hedge”), and Umbrian 𐌊𐌋𐌄𐌈𐌓𐌀𐌌 (kleθram, “stretcher”). See lean, which is related to lid. Further cognates include Ashkun istrī, Kamkata-viri c̣ik, Prasuni čik, čix; Waigali c̣iř, Sanskrit श्रिति (śrití).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after ladder