pull the ladder up behind oneself
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
To improve one's situation and then prevent others from doing the same
Cải thiện tình hình của mình rồi ngăn cản người khác làm như vậy
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Examples
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “pull the ladder up behind oneself” mean?
To improve one's situation and then prevent others from doing the same Literally: to physically pull a ladder up
Is “pull the ladder up behind oneself” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.