n.
Function: intransitive verb
Date: circa 1900
1 : to speculate (as on a security or commodity exchange) by using paper profits as margin for additional transactions
2 : to increase rapidly and progressively step by step on a broad base
transitive verb
1 : to arrange or build up as if on the base of a pyramid
2 : to use (as profits) in speculative pyramiding
3 : to increase the impact of (as a tax assessed at the production level) on the ultimate consumer by treating as a cost subject to markup