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 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 The youngest Zoomers are entering high school (and thus making their first independent purchases), and the eldest are rounding out their 20s (and thus reaching for the next rungs on the career ladder). — Sophia Nguyen, The Atlantic, 2 Aug. 2026 The engineer’s caste was Dalit, considered to be on the lower rungs of society, which allegedly made the engineer a target for harassment and discrimination from higher-caste managers. — David John Chávez, Mercury News, 28 June 2026 The other was the rescue of two women who cliffed out on the famous Via Ferrata in Telluride where there are cables and handholds along with iron rungs. — Alan Gionet, CBS News, 18 June 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for rungs

Noun

The team also traded away Luis Arraez and Heliot Ramos for prospects, further thinning their ranks.

— Curtis Pashelka, Mercury News, 25 Aug. 2026
The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will soon join the ranks of iconic observatories like the Hubble and James Webb telescopes – plumbing the far reaches of the cosmos to answer some of life's greatest mysteries.

— Eric Lagatta, USA Today, 25 Aug. 2026

Definition of ranks

Noun

Pruning In winter, when canes are done producing fruit for the season, prune the canes that bore fruit down to the base of the plant so new ones will grow in the spring.

— Karen Brewer Grossman, Southern Living, 14 Aug. 2026
Sales of Cardinal’s consumer healthcare products, such as crutches, canes and its Leader brand of cough drops and other over-the-counter medications, are also reported here.

— Zev Fima, CNBC, 11 Aug. 2026

Definition of canes

Noun

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite and the S&P 500 both closed at their lowest levels in nearly two weeks.

— , CNBC, 28 Aug. 2026
Biden raised troop levels there to about 100,000, backed by seven fighter squadrons, six destroyers, and roughly 100 nuclear gravity bombs.

— JENNIFER KAVANAGH, Foreign Affairs, 28 Aug. 2026

Definition of levels

Noun

Those positions remain in flux and negotiations between Assembly members, state senators and Newsom are ongoing, Assembly Natural Resources Committee Chair Isaac Bryan, D-Jefferson Park, said.

— Stephen Hobbs, Sacbee.com, 25 Aug. 2026
The precedent for what happens when that capital moves quickly is March 2020, when a rapid unwind of leveraged positions contributed to a breakdown of Treasury-market liquidity severe enough to require Federal Reserve intervention.

— Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 25 Aug. 2026

Definition of positions

Noun

Heat index values may surpass 100° some places during the afternoon hours.

— Steven Sosna, CBS News, 28 Aug. 2026
Its return coincides with citywide discussions about a lack of third spaces — places outside of work, school and home — for teens to hang out that will keep them off the streets.

— Charlotte Observer, Charlotte Observer, 28 Aug. 2026