Jacob's ladder
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Ja·cob's ladder
(jā′kəbz)n.
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
n
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
n.
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
n.
any plant of the genus Polemonium, of the phlox family, with cup-shaped blue flowers and paired leaflets in a ladderlike arrangement.
[1725–35]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Noun | 1. | ![]() 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 ladder - steps consisting of two parallel members connected by rungs; for climbing up or down |
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