extension ladder
1
4.2
- noun
:
escalera extensible
- The night of the fire, we watched the firemen collecting their gear, rolling thick black hoses, and sheathing extension ladders.
Examples
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Mack helped his father set up the big wooden extension ladder in the backyard.
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In time, I got up on the clanking aluminum extension ladder to do the job.
Fiction book (2002) -
"And he left his extension ladder in my garage."
Fiction book (2000) -
Mack helped his father set up the big wooden extension ladder in the backyard.
Fiction book (1990) -
She directed one of the men to lean the broken half of the extension ladder up against the trunk of the tree.
Fiction book (1990) -
I'm trying to raise a very long extension ladder to reach an open window with a small ledge on the third floor of a brick building.
Academic text (2007) -
I even bought a new extension ladder that's lighter and has better rungs than the old one, but it still scares the bejeezus out of me!
Blog text (16) -
When using an extension ladder, don't place the ladder at too extreme of an angle.
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One of the fire engines has an extension ladder on a turntable.
Synonyms
202
1.0
A frame with steps used to climb up or down
How High
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a ladder that can be lengthened' is directly and literally derived from combining 'extension' (an added part making something longer) with 'ladder' (a climbing frame). This noun+noun compositional pattern is productive and cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
The noun extension ladder names a ladder made of two or more parts that slide to make it longer. Picture one section sliding up from the other—extension means 'to make longer' and ladder is the stepped frame—so the name tells you it is a ladder you can lengthen to 'reach higher'.