A series of stages by which one progresses to a better position.
A length of unravelled fabric in a knitted garment, especially in nylon stockings; a run.
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).
In the game of go, a sequence of moves following a zigzag pattern and ultimately leading to the capture of the attacked stones.
The hierarchy or ranking system within an organization, such as the corporate ladder.
Of a knitted garment: to develop a ladder as a result of a broken thread.
To ascend (a building, a wall, etc.) using a ladder.
To arrange or form into a shape of a ladder.
To close in on a target with successive salvos, increasing or decreasing the shot range as necessary.
A range; a continuous, infinite, one-dimensional set, possibly bounded by extremes.
The pattern of absorption or emission of radiation produced by a substance when subjected to energy (radiation, heat, electricity, etc.).
The image of something seen that persists after the eyes are closed.
Specifically, a range of colours representing light (electromagnetic radiation) of contiguous frequencies; hence electromagnetic spectrum, visible spectrum, ultraviolet spectrum, etc.
The set of eigenvalues of a matrix.
Of a bounded linear operator A, the set of scalar values λ such that the operator A—λI, where I denotes the identity operator, does not have a bounded inverse; intended as a generalisation of the linear algebra sense.
The autism spectrum.
The set, denoted Spec(R), of all prime ideals of a given ring R, commonly augmented with a Zariski topology and considered as a topological space.