Thesaurus results for RUNGS

rungs

noun

plural of rung

as in ranks

the placement of someone or something in relation to others in a vertical arrangement the greasy spoon restaurant was several rungs below the kind of establishment in which we usually dined

Synonyms & Similar Words

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as in canes

Scottish a heavy rigid stick used as a weapon or for punishment the watchman usually carried a stout oak rung

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of rungs Quarry Park Adventures’ via ferrata climbing route features iron rungs, tightrope cables and wooden boards along the walls of the circular quarry. — Camila Pedrosa, Sacbee.com, 22 Oct. 2026 Both of those rungs on the proverbial ladder should be celebrated and certainly not taken for granted. — Tyler Estep, AJC.com, 18 Sep. 2026 Another survivor, Ram Chandra, described gripping onto rungs of the ceiling to make his way out of the tunnel as water, concrete and debris swirled around him. — Jessie Yeung, CNN Money, 31 Aug. 2026 Their 3-point shooting once again ranked in the bottom rungs of the league. — Julia Poe, Chicago Tribune, 25 Aug. 2026 Yet experts warn that Southeast Asia’s competitive edge—its abundance of cheap, low-skilled labor—could trap it at the bottom rungs of the AI tech ladder. — Angelica Ang, Fortune, 21 Aug. 2026 The higher Khalil got on the rungs of congressional seniority, the more circumspect the lawmakers sounded. — Andrew Marantz, New Yorker, 17 Aug. 2026 Gray has spent much of his career excavating the particular anxieties of New York families trying to climb a few rungs higher in society. — Sophie Miller, Rolling Stone, 10 Aug. 2026 The superstar has now landed a dozen projects on the roster, and only two have peaked in lower rungs. — Hugh McIntyre, Forbes.com, 9 Aug. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for rungs

Noun

This season is really no different, with many teams filling the top ranks in the nation.

— OutKick, FOXNews.com, 24 Oct. 2026
Amid a flurry of cuts the past couple of years, the number of women in the highest ranks at the major studios has dwindled, and grows fewer by the day.

— Rebecca Ford, Vanity Fair, 22 Oct. 2026

Definition of ranks

Noun

Questions that have been proposed for removal deal with memory, fatigue, arthritis, difficulty walking and climbing stairs, as well as others about the use of hearing aids, canes, wheelchairs and scooters.

— ABC News, ABC News, 14 Oct. 2026
This is because fruit development consumes much of the vine’s energy, so removing the fruit at this point allows the vine’s energy to continue to develop a strong cordon, canes (vertical shoots), and root system.

— The San Diego Union Tribune, San Diego Union-Tribune, 12 Sep. 2026

Definition of canes

Noun

Authorities are evaluating whether the use of batons and police dogs was excessive.

— ABC News, ABC News, 27 Oct. 2026
Last week, at least 50 people, including 19 police personnel, were injured after police used tear gas, water cannons and batons to disperse garment workers demanding unpaid wages and higher pay in Dhaka’s Uttara area.

— Jasmin Malik Chua, Footwear News, 26 Oct. 2026

Definition of batons

Noun

China’s leadership doubled down on an anti-corruption drive that analysts say has variously sought to purge the top echelons of the Communist Party over graft and consolidate Xi Jinping’s power.

— Prashant Rao, semafor.com, 30 Oct. 2026
The costs of preference falsification and performative loyalty will accumulate among the highest echelons of the regime’s operators.

— Jieun Baek, Foreign Affairs, 30 Oct. 2026

Definition of echelons

Noun

Those are places where many voters look skeptically, even scornfully, upon big cities and the people who run them.

— Bill Barrow, Los Angeles Times, 28 Oct. 2026
The volumes insist that Jewish communities be remembered not solely as sites of death but as places where people lived, argued, worked and celebrated.

— Jennifer Rich, The Conversation, 28 Oct. 2026