Ja·cob's ladder

(jā′kəbz)

1. Nautical A rope or chain ladder with rigid rungs.

2. Any of various plants of the genus Polemonium, especially P. caeruleum, having bell-shaped usually blue flowers and alternate, pinnately compound leaves with numerous leaflets.

[From the ladder seen by the biblical patriarch Jacob in a dream (Genesis 28:12).]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Jacob's ladder

1. (Bible) Old Testament the ladder reaching up to heaven that Jacob saw in a dream (Genesis 28:12–17)

2. (Nautical Terms) Also called: jack ladder a ladder made of wooden or metal steps supported by ropes or chains

3. (Plants) a North American polemoniaceous plant, Polemonium caeruleum, with blue flowers and a ladder-like arrangement of leaves

4. (Plants) any of several similar or related plants

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

Ja′cob's lad′der

1. a ladder seen by Jacob in a dream, reaching from the earth to heaven. Gen. 28:12.

2. Naut. a hanging ladder having ropes or chains supporting rungs or steps.

[1825–35]

Ja′cob's-lad′der

any plant of the genus Polemonium, of the phlox family, with cup-shaped blue flowers and paired leaflets in a ladderlike arrangement.

[1725–35]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun	1.	Jacob's ladder - pinnate-leaved European perennial having bright blue or white flowers Polemonium caeruleum, Polemonium van-bruntiae, Polymonium caeruleum van-bruntiae, Greek valerian, charity polemonium - any plant of the genus Polemonium; most are low-growing often foul-smelling plants of temperate to Arctic regions
	2.	Jacob's ladder - (nautical) a hanging ladder of ropes or chains supporting wooden or metal rungs or steps jack ladder, pilot ladder sailing, seafaring, navigation - the work of a sailor ladder - steps consisting of two parallel members connected by rungs; for climbing up or down

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

"By the time I had rushed down the staircase and the Jacob's ladder, the man was no longer hanging from his rope!"

Picture the corps de ballet scuttling down the Jacob's ladder and dividing the suicide's rope among themselves in less time than it takes to write!

View in context

"Oh!" said he, "good and honorable pavement of Paris, cursed staircase, fit to put the angels of Jacob's ladder out of breath!

View in context

Whenever Tess lifted her head she beheld always the great upgrown straw-stack, with the men in shirt-sleeves upon it, against the gray north sky; in front of it the long red elevator like a Jacob's ladder, on which a perpetual stream of threshed straw ascended, a yellow river running uphill, and spouting out on the top of the rick.

View in context

I think she had no feeling at all towards the old house, and did not like the Jacob's Ladder and the long row of hollyhocks in the garden better than other flowers--perhaps not so well.

View in context

This beautiful perennial, also known as Jacob's ladder, produces clusters of small lavender blue flowers on short stems with fernlike foliage.

OFFER of the week; IN THE GARDEN; BUY POLEMONIUM BLUE WHIRL FOR ONLY PS8.99

Forglen Hall's colourful depiction of Jacob's Ladder, from the Old Testament story, was installed when the building was built in 1924.

Progress on hall glass

John Seleke of Dutch Reformed Church, Evangelist Lesego Kabomo of Jacob's Ladder Church and Rev.

Botswana under God's grace

It's a cosmic-based pattern on the Old Testament story of Jacob's Ladder.

Abbey is part of a grand design; PARKER'S WAYWE REVISIT DEREK PARKER'S RAMBLES THROUGH RENFREWSHIRE

On Saturday, they participated in a Jacob's Ladder challenge and canoeing on Loch Eil which was followed by a rather nerve-wracking zip line that night.

Leaders of the future; SCHOOL NEWS

The documentary is chock-full of heartbreaking moments such as these as 20-somethings Jeff, Rush, Adam, and Ryan struggle with addiction and recovery at Jacob's Ladder rehab facility in Aurora, West Virginia.

RECOVERY BOYS

SOUTH HEAD AND JACOB'S LADDER Starting and finishing at The Old Hall Inn, in Chinley (SK23 6EJ) the nine-mile walk includes a tough but rewarding climb to the high open moorland of South Head and north to the Kinder Plateau.

DERBYSHIRE