I. ˈramp, ˈraa(ə)mp, ˈraimp verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English rampen, from Old French ramper, to climb, crawl, rear, of Germanic origin; akin to Middle Dutch & Middle Low German ramp cramp, Middle High German rampf cramp, Old High German rimpfan to wrinkle — more at rumple
intransitive verb
1.
a. : to be rampant or in the posture of a beast rampant in heraldry
b.
(1) : to stand or advance with forelegs or with arms raised as if in menace, anger, or excitement
(2) : to move or act furiously : rage , storm
would ramp and rage and hop about like a veritable Sioux — Norman Douglas
c. chiefly dialect : to rush about especially in a boisterous excited manner
2. : to crawl or move along the ground
a boa does not ramp about the jungle — Current History
3.
a.
(1) : climb
(2) : to creep up — used especially of plants
grew here as roses should be allowed to grow — untamed … ramping over the rocks — Douglas Carruthers
b. chiefly dialect : to grow rapidly
4. : to rise or fall to a higher or lower level
transitive verb
1. : to bend so as to fit to a ramp (as in a stair rail)
gracefully ramped mahogany handrail — H.S.Morrison
2. : to furnish with a ramp
the auditorium was ramped to better visual efficiency — Al Hine
II. noun
( -s )
: the act of ramping ; especially : a rearing or advancing in a threatening or warlike posture
in the roar and the ramp of the southern gale — Hamlin Garland
III. noun
( -s )
Etymology: French rampe, from ramper
1.
a. : the perpendicular distance between the springing lines of a rampant arch
b. : a sloping member other than a purely constructional one (as a continuous parapet to a staircase)
2. : a short bend, slope, or curve usually in the vertical plane where a handrail or coping changes its direction ; especially : a vertical curve in a handrail, concave, or top : easing
3. : a sloping way: as
a. : a sloping floor or walk leading from one level to another — see bastion illustration
b. : a platform and incline from which logs are loaded
c. : an inclined roadway connecting two thoroughfares (as in an interchange) or serving as a means of access to or exit from a bridge, a tunnel, or a parking area
inclined ramps at each end of the pontoon bridge — C.R.Ege
4. : a contrivance (as of blocks or wedges of wood) laid parallel in a roadway for passing traffic over lines of hose
5.
a. : apron 8c(1)
b. : the stairway by which passengers enter the main door of an airplane
6. : a wedge-shaped block forming a base for a front sight of a firearm
7.
a. : a thrust fault having a relatively high angle of dip
b. : ramp valley
c. : an accumulation of snow forming an inclined plane between land or land ice and sea or shelf ice
IV. noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English rampe, perhaps from rampen to ramp, rage — more at ramp I
: a bold woman
V. noun
( -s )
Etymology: in sense 1, by shortening; in sense 2, back-formation from ramps, alteration of rams, from Middle English, from Old English hramsa — more at ramson
1. : rampion
2. : any of several plants of the genus Allium ; especially : ramson
VI. ˈramp transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: origin unknown
1. Britain : rob
2. Britain : to swindle from
VII. noun
( -s )
Britain : a confidence game : hoax , swindle
the whole thing was a moneymaking ramp — Nicholas Monsarrat
VIII. transitive verb
: to increase or decrease especially at a constant rate — usually used with up or down
ramp up production