pyramid
- Architecture.
- (in ancient Egypt) a quadrilateral masonry mass having smooth, steeply sloping sides meeting at an apex, used as a tomb.
- (in ancient Egypt and pre-Columbian Central America) a quadrilateral masonry mass, stepped and sharply sloping, used as a tomb or a platform for a temple.
- anything of such form.
- a number of persons or things arranged or heaped up in this manner: a pyramid of acrobats; a pyramid of boxes.
- a system or structure resembling a pyramid, as in hierarchical form.
- Geometry. a solid having a polygonal base, and triangular sides that meet in a point.
- Crystallography. any form the planes of which intersect all three of the axes.
- Anatomy, Zoology. any of various parts or structures of pyramidal form.
- Also called pyramid scheme. a scheme that pyramids, as in speculating on the stock exchange or writing a chain letter.
- a tree pruned or trained to grow in conical form.
- pyramids, (used with a singular verb) British. a form of pocket billiards for two or four players in which 15 colored balls, initially placed in the form of a triangle, are pocketed with one white cue ball.
- to take, or become disposed in, the form of a pyramid.
- Stock Exchange. (in speculating on margin) to enlarge one's operations in a series of transactions, as on a continued rise or decline in price, by using profits in transactions not yet closed, and consequently not yet in hand, as margin for additional buying or selling in the next transaction.
- to increase gradually, as with the completion of each phase: Our problems are beginning to pyramid.
- to arrange in the form of a pyramid.
- to raise or increase (costs, wages, etc.) by adding amounts gradually.
- to cause to increase at a steady and progressive rate: New overseas markets have pyramided the company's profits.
- Stock Exchange. (in speculating on margin) to operate in, or employ in, pyramiding.
Origin of pyramid
Related Words for pyramid
monolith, tomb, shrine, edifice, memorial, obelisk, tribute, cairn, cenotaph, mastabaExamples from the Web for pyramid
Contemporary Examples of pyramid
As the pyramid grew, the teen struggled to manage his responsibilities at home, in school and with his sham company.
“This pyramid monster hotel will monopolize all the business in the city,” CEO Reto Wittwer said.
Finally, a pyramid constructed from Germany army helmets in New York City in 1918.
At the top of the pyramid is AQIM, under which are a myriad of different groups each with their own agendas.
When you take away the top of the pyramid, it literally looks like a different shape.
Matt Damon and John Krasinski Talk About Their Bromance, ‘Promised Land,’ and MoreKevin Fallon
December 26, 2012
Historical Examples of pyramid
And suppose I set fire to this pyramid with a candle—will she burn up?
Tom Sawyer AbroadMark Twain (Samuel Clemens)
If a pyramid or obelisk mould, lift it carefully off the top.
Directions for Cookery, in its Various BranchesEliza Leslie
Someone had put our lanterns on the top of this pyramid shrine.
Things as They AreAmy Wilson-Carmichael
Moreover, the pyramid, which is the figure of fire, is more cutting than any other.
TimaeusPlato
Far beyond the pyramid the volcanoes are seen in their lonely grandeur.
Aztec LandMaturin M. Ballou
pyramid
- a huge masonry construction that has a square base and, as in the case of the ancient Egyptian royal tombs, four sloping triangular sides
- an object, formation, or structure resembling such a construction
- maths a solid having a polygonal base and triangular sides that meet in a common vertex
- crystallog a crystal form in which three planes intersect all three axes of the crystal
- anatomy any pointed or cone-shaped bodily structure or part
- finance a group of enterprises containing a series of holding companies structured so that the top holding company controls the entire group with a relatively small proportion of the total capital invested
- mainly US the series of transactions involved in pyramiding securities
- (plural) a game similar to billiards with fifteen coloured balls
- to build up or be arranged in the form of a pyramid
- mainly US to speculate in (securities or property) by increasing purchases on additional margin or collateral derived from paper profits associated with high prices of securities and property in a boom
- finance to form (companies) into a pyramid
Word Origin for pyramid
Word Origin and History for pyramid
1550s (earlier in Latin form piramis, late 14c.), from French pyramide (Old French piramide "obelisk, stela," 12c.), from Latin pyramides, plural of pyramis "one of the pyramids of Egypt," from Greek pyramis (plural pyramides) "a pyramid," apparently an alteration of Egyptian pimar "pyramid." Financial sense is from 1911. Related: Pyramidal.
pyramid
(pĭr′ə-mĭd)- A solid figure with a polygonal base and triangular faces that meet at a common point.
- A structure or part shaped like a pyramid.