ramp

 
Pronunciation: /ramp/

noun

  • 1a sloping surface joining two different levels, as at the entrance or between floors of a building: a wheelchair ramp
  • a movable set of steps for entering or leaving an aircraft.
  • British a transverse ridge in a road to control the speed of vehicles.
  • North American an inclined slip road leading on to or off a main road or motorway: an exit ramp
  • North American term for catwalk (sense 1)
  • 2an upward bend in a stair rail.
  • 3an electrical waveform in which the voltage increases or decreases linearly with time: a voltage ramp
  • 4British informal a swindle, especially one involving a fraudulent increase of the price of a share: the Stock Exchange is investigating two blatant share ramps

verb

  • 1 [with object] (often ramp something up) increase the level or amount of (something) sharply: the company has moved into new quarters in order to ramp up production [no object]: the level of violence is ramping up
  • British drive up the price of (a company’s shares) in order to gain a financial advantage: (as noun ramping) a rule against share price ramping which forbids a broker to account for more than 30 per cent of trading in a share
  • 2 [no object] archaic (of an animal) rear up on its hind legs in a threatening posture: they roared and ramped in cages (as adjective ramping) a ramping lion
  • [with adverbial of direction] rush about uncontrollably: an awful beast ramping about the woods and fields
  • [with adverbial of direction] (of a plant) grow or climb luxuriantly: ivy ramped over the flower beds
  • 3 [no object] (of an electrical waveform) increase or decrease voltage linearly with time: the integrated circuit’s output then ramps in the negative direction
  • 4 [with object] provide with a ramp: (as adjective ramped) ramped access to public buildings

Origin:

Middle English (as a verb in the sense 'rear up', also used as a heraldic term): from Old French ramper 'creep, crawl', of unknown origin. Sense 1 of the noun dates from the late 18th century