Word.ws English Dictionary

pull the ladder up after oneself

pull the ladder up after oneself is the alternative form of pull the ladder up behind oneself.

Meaning of pull the ladder up behind oneself

Verb

pull the ladder up behind oneself (third-person singular simple present pulls the ladder up behind oneself, present participle pulling the ladder up behind oneself, simple past and past participle pulled the ladder up behind oneself)

  1. (idiomatic) To prevent others from attaining or benefiting from the same advantages, opportunities, or rights as oneself.
    • Near-synonym: pull up the drawbridge

Forms of pull the ladder up after oneself

third-person singular presentpulls the ladder up after oneself
present participlepulling the ladder up after oneself
past participlepulled the ladder up after oneself
pastpulled the ladder up after oneself

Questions about pull the ladder up after oneself

What is pull the ladder up after oneself the alternative form of?
Pull the ladder up after oneself is the alternative form of pull the ladder up behind oneself.

Words near pull the ladder up after oneself in the dictionary

  1. pull teeth
  2. pull the devil by the tail
  3. pull the fat out of the fire
  4. pull the fire alarm
  5. pull the football
  6. pull the ladder up after oneself
  7. pull the ladder up behind oneself
  8. pull the long bow
  9. pull the other leg
  10. pull the other one
  11. pull the other one, it's got bells on

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: pull the ladder up after oneself (page history and authors); pull the ladder up behind oneself (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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