to pull the ladder up behind oneself
- idiom
:
cerrar la puerta tras de uno
- After becoming a manager, he pulled the ladder up behind himself and stopped promoting junior staff.
Examples
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Some politicians support social mobility until they succeed, then pull the ladder up behind themselves.
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She was accused of pulling the ladder up behind herself by opposing scholarships for new students.
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Don't pull the ladder up behind yourself!
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She pulled the ladder up behind herself after getting the promotion.
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After becoming a manager, he pulled the ladder up behind himself by refusing to mentor any new employees.
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Once she achieved her goals, she pulled the ladder up behind herself and limited opportunities for her successors.
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Many leaders pull the ladder up behind themselves after they reach success, making it harder for others to climb.
Antonyms
How Supportive
28
2.7
210
5.1
1
6.1
Surface Forms
Morphology
pull + the + ladder + up + behind + oneself
The expression evokes a clear visual metaphor — after climbing a ladder one pulls it up behind oneself — so a learner who knows 'pull', 'ladder', 'up', 'behind' and 'oneself' can infer it involves preventing others from following. However, understanding that 'ladder' maps onto opportunities/career advancement and that the action means withdrawing support is a conventionalized metaphorical step rather than a strictly compositional meaning, so it is not fully transparent.
Etymology
The idiom pull the ladder up behind oneself comes from a simple image: someone climbs a ladder and then pulls it up behind them so no one else can climb it. That's why it means 'to stop others from getting the same help or chance'.