"ladders" in the noun sense
1. ladder
steps consisting of two parallel members connected by rungs for climbing up or down
2. ladder
ascending stages by which somebody or something can progress
"he climbed the career ladder"
3. run, ladder, ravel
a row of unravelled stitches
"she got a run in her stocking"
"ladders" in the verb sense
1. ladder, run
come unraveled or undone as if by snagging
"Her nylons were running"
Source: WordNet® (An amazing lexical database of English)
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