jacob's ladder

The original Jacob's Ladder was the biblical ladder to heaven on which Jacob saw angels ascending and descending. In a nautical context, a Jacob's ladder (with a lower-case "l") is a flexible hanging ladder consisting of vertical ropes or chains supporting horizontal wooden or metal rungs. The term has been used metaphorically or as a direct reference in titles:

A 1990 movie of the same name
An opera of the same name (Die Jakobsleiter in German) by Arnold Schoenberg
The spiritual "We Are Climbing Jacob's Ladder"
A song on the album Readymades by Chumbawamba. Another version of it is also available for free download at their website - this version criticizes the USA's response to the September 11, 2001 attacks.
A song on the album Fore! by Huey Lewis and the News
A song on the album Permanent Waves by Rush

It has also been used to describe many vaguely ladder-like objects:

A genus of plants, Polemonium in the family Polemoniaceae
A string figure created as part of a children's game. See Jacob's Ladder at http://www.darsie.net/string/jacob.html
A folk toy consisting of blocks on strings that, when held at one end, appear to cascade down the strings
One form of a spark gap, specifically an electronic rack that causes dramatic electric arcing, often seen in movies about mad scientists
A type of body piercing
Another name for the Abscess root plant
An old Indian, and then pioneer, trail between the Connecticut and Hudson rivers, rebuilt in 1910 as the first highway for the horseless carriage
A staircase cut into the side of the Cheddar Gorge in southwest England
A staircase of 699 steps cut into the side of the rocky cliffs on the west side of the capital of St. Helena
The steepest portion of the Mount Washington Cog Railway
A 100-step climb near Devil's Bridge, Wales http://www.narrow-gauge-pleasure.co.uk/rlyrheidol.html http://www.cardiganshirecoastandcountry.com/rheidol.htm http://www.pumlumon.org.uk/map/map.php?lang=eng&page=pla_8

<< Previous

Word Browser

Next >>

kappa alpha theta
john marshall harlan
common bean
british comics
psion 5
bypassing
gagarin (town)
george dalgarno
helvetic republic
c4 carbon fixation
multiple launch rocket system

prentis cobb hale
peace center
juan jos ibarretxe
john taylor (1503 1554)
theodore bikel
danielle harris
the superjesus
loganair
archosaur
ryotaro shiba
photorespiration

presbyopia
jacob's ladder (movie)
ernesto geisel
spiritual plane
hans ulrich rudel
estelle axton
olympique de marseille
beaufort sea
artemy petrovich volynsky
list of syrians
mayors of coon rapids, minnesota

boris ivanovich kurakin
red spider mite
john taylor (1752 1833)
mikhail illarionovich vorontsov
anders retzius
chronic functional abdominal pain
mikhail petrovich bestuzhev ryumin
unknown
north carolina cabinet
john taylor (taylor ham)
taylor opera house