"work one's way up" meaning in English

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "works one's way up",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "working one's way up",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "worked one's way up",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "worked one's way up",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*"
      },
      "expansion": "work one's way up (third-person singular simple present works one's way up, present participle working one's way up, simple past and past participle worked one's way up)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "glosses": [
        "to climb something"
      ],
      "id": "en-work_one's_way_up-en-noun-TWS9-kVn",
      "links": [
        [
          "climb",
          "climb"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "10 82 1 7",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "6 87 2 5",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "6 89 2 4",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "to climb the figurative corporate ladder"
      ],
      "id": "en-work_one's_way_up-en-noun-QGG7N2DB",
      "links": [
        [
          "climb",
          "climb"
        ],
        [
          "corporate ladder",
          "corporate ladder"
        ]
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "_dis1": "15 69 1 15",
          "word": "rise through the ranks"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "glosses": [
        "to rise within a hierarchical order"
      ],
      "id": "en-work_one's_way_up-en-noun-7Ztx3lSN",
      "links": [
        [
          "rise",
          "rise"
        ],
        [
          "hierarchical",
          "hierarchical"
        ],
        [
          "order",
          "order"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "He worked his way up from janitor to regional manager.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "to reach higher positions through effort after starting at lower levels or the very bottom"
      ],
      "id": "en-work_one's_way_up-en-noun-FJqixVS4"
    }
  ],
  "word": "work one's way up"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English verbs",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries"
  ],
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "works one's way up",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "working one's way up",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "worked one's way up",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "worked one's way up",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*"
      },
      "expansion": "work one's way up (third-person singular simple present works one's way up, present participle working one's way up, simple past and past participle worked one's way up)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "rise through the ranks"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "glosses": [
        "to climb something"
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "climb",
          "climb"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "glosses": [
        "to climb the figurative corporate ladder"
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "climb",
          "climb"
        ],
        [
          "corporate ladder",
          "corporate ladder"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "glosses": [
        "to rise within a hierarchical order"
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "rise",
          "rise"
        ],
        [
          "hierarchical",
          "hierarchical"
        ],
        [
          "order",
          "order"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with usage examples"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "He worked his way up from janitor to regional manager.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "to reach higher positions through effort after starting at lower levels or the very bottom"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "work one's way up"
}