stepladder

[ step-lad-er ]

/ ˈstɛpˌlæd ər /

a ladder having flat steps or treads in place of rungs.

any ladder, especially a tall one with a hinged frame opening up to form four supporting legs.

Origin of stepladder

First recorded in 1745–55; step + ladder

"I wonder if we couldn't bring in a stepladder for her," murmured the Skeptic in my ear.

A Court of Inquiry |Grace S. Richmond
She was taking the books2 from the lowest shelf, as she was afraid to climb the stepladder.

Peggy in Her Blue Frock |Eliza Orne White
Gissing, wise by now, knew that after a forager the mosquito always retires to the ceiling, so he kept a stepladder in the room.

Where the Blue Begins |Christopher Morley
There on the floor was the packing-case, there on the floor was a table to sit at, there against the wall stood a stepladder.

Angela's Business |Henry Sydnor Harrison

The picture is so large that she was obliged to use a stepladder to reach some parts of it.

Brooks's Readers, Third Year |Stratton D. Brooks

stepladder

/ (ˈstɛpˌlædə) /

a folding portable ladder that is made of broad flat steps fixed to a supporting frame hinged at the top to another supporting frame