corporate ladder

noun

The hierarchy or ranking system of employment positions within a business organization; especially, such a hierarchy viewed as a ladder to be climbed (to successive higher-ranking positions) while one is pursuing a career path.

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Meanings

nouncorporate ladder (plural corporate ladders)

plural corporate ladders

  1. figurativelyidiomaticThe hierarchy or ranking system of employment positions within a business organization; especially, such a hierarchy viewed as a ladder to be climbed (to successive higher-ranking positions) while one is pursuing a career path.

    He's climbing the corporate ladder fast and is moving from New York City to CNN headquarters in Atlanta.

    2012 August 23, Petrina Gentile, “All business about his off-road vehicle”, in Globe and Mail, Canada, retrieved 14 Apr 2013
    2 more examples

    The Apartment. Producer-Director Billy Wilder tells of a sweet-natured schnook (brilliantly played by Jack Lemmon) who shoots up the corporate ladder.

    1960 July 4, “Time Listings”, in Time

    "Good grooming is increasingly important as you move up the corporate ladder," said Camille Lavington, a New York image consultant.

    1991 September 29, Nancy Marx Better, “The Executive Life: A Gender Switch In Grooming Rituals”, in New York Times, retrieved 14 Apr 2013
Cite this entry
APA

corporate ladder. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/corporate%20ladder

MLA

“corporate ladder.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/corporate%20ladder. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “corporate ladder,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/corporate%20ladder.

Source: corporate ladder on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.