Accommodation ladder

Accommodation Ac*com`mo*da"tion, n. [L. accommodatio, fr. accommodare: cf. F. accommodation.] [1913 Webster] 1. The act of fitting or adapting, or the state of being fitted or adapted; adaptation; adjustment; -- followed by to. ``The organization of the body with accommodation to its functions.'' --Sir M. Hale. [1913 Webster]

2. Willingness to accommodate; obligingness. [1913 Webster]

3. Whatever supplies a want or affords ease, refreshment, or convenience; anything furnished which is desired or needful; -- often in the plural; as, the accommodations -- that is, lodgings and food -- at an inn. --Sir W. Scott. [1913 Webster]

4. An adjustment of differences; state of agreement; reconciliation; settlement. ``To come to terms of accommodation.'' --Macaulay. [1913 Webster]

5. The application of a writer's language, on the ground of analogy, to something not originally referred to or intended. [1913 Webster]

Many of those quotations from the Old Testament were probably intended as nothing more than accommodations. --Paley. [1913 Webster]

6. (Com.) (a) A loan of money. (b) An accommodation bill or note. [1913 Webster]

{Accommodation bill}, or {note} (Com.), a bill of exchange which a person accepts, or a note which a person makes and delivers to another, not upon a consideration received, but for the purpose of raising money on credit.

{Accommodation coach}, or {train}, one running at moderate speed and stopping at all or nearly all stations.

{Accommodation ladder} (Naut.), a light ladder hung over the side of a ship at the gangway, useful in ascending from, or descending to, small boats. [1913 Webster]