rope ladder vs ladder

rope ladder and ladder both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
rope ladder	Yes	No	No	No
ladder	Yes	No	Yes	No

As nouns, ladder is a hypernym of rope ladder; that is, ladder is a word with a broader meaning than rope ladder:

rope ladder: a ladder with side pieces of rope
ladder: steps consisting of two parallel members connected by rungs; for climbing up or down

rope ladder (noun)	ladder (noun)
a ladder with side pieces of rope	steps consisting of two parallel members connected by rungs; for climbing up or down
	a row of unravelled stitches
	ascending stages by which somebody or something can progress

rope ladder (verb)	ladder (verb)
	come unraveled or undone as if by snagging