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angel's ladder

angel's ladder

9.3
A way that helps a person reach their goals, often by hard work
  • noun
translation icon : escalera del ángel
  • She viewed education as her angel's ladder to a better future.

Examples

  • They called perseverance their angel's ladder out of adversity.

  • Climbing the angel's ladder takes dedication and hard work.

  • Hard work became the angel's ladder that led him to his dreams.

  • Many believe that education is the first step on the angel's ladder.

  • She viewed education as her angel's ladder to a better future.

  • Hard work became the angel's ladder that led him to his dreams.

  • They called perseverance their angel's ladder out of adversity.

Synonyms

ladder
vsangel's ladder
102 3.2

A series of levels people move through to reach higher jobs

is more metaphorical and focuses on the process of reaching goals
career ladder
vsangel's ladder
3 3.5

A series of job levels a person moves up to reach higher positions

is general to any goal area, not limited to professional advancement
pathway to success
vsangel's ladder
1 3.6

A way to reach success in work or goals

is a metaphorical name for the same means of reaching goals
stepping stone to success
vsangel's ladder
1 3.4

An experience that helps someone make progress toward a goal

is a broader ongoing process rather than a single helpful event

Antonyms

557 1.3

Not reaching what was planned or expected

50 3.9

A problem that stops progress or makes a goal hard to reach

How Effective

angel's ladder
9.3
ladder
102 3.2
route
1.0
path
824 2.1

Surface Forms

Morphology

angel's + ladder

Both constituents give interpretable cues: 'ladder' is commonly used metaphorically for levels or advancement and 'angel' evokes a heavenly or virtuous quality, so a learner who knows both words can infer an upward/advancement sense. However, the exact conventional meaning 'a pathway to success or achievement' is a metaphorical extension and not strictly compositional, so the sense is guessable but not fully predictable without prior exposure.

Etymology

Angel's ladder may come from the image of a ladder that reaches from earth up to angels in heaven. That's why people call something an angel's ladder when it is a helpful 'way up' to 'success' or a better life.