ramp

¹ American  

[ramp] / ræmp /

noun

1. a sloping surface connecting two levels; incline.

2. a short concave slope or bend, as one connecting the higher and lower parts of a staircase railing at a landing.

3. any extensive sloping walk or passageway.

4. the act of ramping.

5. Also called boarding ramp. a movable staircase for entering or leaving a cabin door of an airplane.

6. Also called parking ramp. apron.

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verb (used without object)

• ramps,
  present (3rd person singular)
• ramped,
  past participle,  past
• ramping
  present participle

1. to rise or grow steadily; climb.

   The private debt crisis is due partly to insanely ramping student loan debt.

   Here are my top 10 tips for ramping quickly in a new sales role.

2. Chiefly British. to rush or dash about (usually followed by about oraround ).

   No need to go ramping around to different plant nurseries—we have the perfect soil mix right here.

   Our littlest guests can enjoy themselves ramping about the adventure playroom.

3. to act or move about wildly or furiously; rage; storm (often followed by about oraround ).

   If it were me ramping and raging in here like that, you'd call security to escort me out.

4. (of a lion or other large quadruped on a coat of arms) to be depicted in a stylized way, standing on the hind legs with forelegs raised.

   The green ramping lion on the silver shield is taken from the Shireburn coat of arms.

5. (of an animal) to stand or move with the forelegs raised, as in animosity or excitement; rear.

   The painting shows Napoleon astride a ramping horse.

   The author vividly describes the angry bear ramping from side to side.

verb (used with object)

• ramps,
  present (3rd person singular)
• ramped,
  past participle,  past
• ramping
  present participle

1. to provide with a ramp or ramps.

   Entrances will be ramped to accommodate those in wheelchairs.

2. to increase or raise in amount, intensity, extent, etc., especially steadily; build.

   They’ve come up with a plan to ramp national production of renewable energy.

   Suddenly, after a barrage of wordy lyrics, she ramps the song into soaring gospel mode.

3. British. to buy up (shares) in order to generate demand and increase the share price, with the fraudulent intention of quickly selling afterward.

   The bank's brokers have been accused of ramping shares in a mining company.

verb phrase

1. ramp up. see ramp-up.

2. ramp along to sail on a tack with all sails filled.

ramp ² American  

[ramp] / ræmp /

noun

1. a wild onion, Allium tricoccum, of the amaryllis family, of eastern North America, having flat leaves and rounded clusters of whitish flowers; eaten raw or used as a flavoring in cooked foods.

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ramp British  

/ ræmp /

noun

1. a sloping floor, path, etc, that joins two surfaces at different levels

2. a movable stairway by which passengers enter and leave an aircraft

3. the act of ramping

4. slang a swindle, esp one involving exorbitant prices

5. another name for sleeping policeman

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verb

1. (intr; often foll by about or around) (esp of animals) to rush around in a wild excited manner

2. to act in a violent or threatening manner, as when angry (esp in the phrase ramp and rage )

3. (tr) finance to buy (a security) in the market with the object of raising its price and enhancing the image of the company behind it for financial gain

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• unramped
  adjective
• rampingly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Participles

• ramping
  present
• ramped
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• ramp
  simple
• ramps
  simple
• have ramped
  perfect
• has ramped
  perfect
• am ramping
  progressive
• are ramping
  progressive
• is ramping
  progressive
• have been ramping
  perfect progressive
• has been ramping
  perfect progressive

Past

• ramped
  simple
• had ramped
  perfect
• was ramping
  progressive
• were ramping
  progressive
• had been ramping
  perfect progressive

Future

• will ramp
  simple
• will have ramped
  perfect
• will be ramping
  progressive
• will have been ramping
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of ramp¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; (for the verb) Middle English ra(u)mpen “to creep, crawl, climb,” from Old French ramper, ranper “to creep, crawl, climb”; (for the noun) from French rampe, derivative of ramper, ranper

Origin of ramp²

First recorded in 1820–30; back formation from ramps, ramson, variant (with intrusive p ) of rams, earlier rammys, originally the singular of ramson

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Explanation

A ramp is a slope or an incline, a surface that tilts from one level to another. Someone using a wheelchair might need a ramp to get from the doorway of a building down to its parking lot. A skateboarder might use a ramp to gather speed, while a man pushing a stroller uses it to push his baby onto the sidewalk after crossing the street. Passengers also walk down ramps when they exit boats and trains. There's also the plant called a ramp, also known as wild onion or wild garlic. As a verb, to ramp means to provide with a ramp, but the more common "to ramp up" means "to increase."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

ramp ramps ramped ramping

"I look at it as an exit ramp," she adds.

From BBC ● Oct. 17, 2026

The EU wants to ramp up its capacity and is pouring billions into so-called AI gigafactories made up of advanced AI processors and energy-efficient data centres for companies and research labs.

From Barron's ● Oct. 14, 2026

With mining capacity continuing to ramp up, expectations for inventory accumulation are strong, it adds.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026

The season’s first Santa Ana wind event will begin Wednesday and ramp up Thursday, bringing significant fire risk to parched Los Angeles County.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026

Unfortunately, he dove into the ramp, not the water.

From "Dog Squad" by Chris Grabenstein

She proposed a "growth and investment reset" that ramps up funding to countries in need as part of a set of measures designed to provide sustained support at concessional rates.

From Barron's ● Oct. 17, 2026

But as pressure ramps up on Farage in the latest crisis to rock Reform, he also told the BBC that "for the first time", he does not have his family's support to be in politics.

From BBC ● Sep. 5, 2026

The main driver is higher gold sales volumes of 33,000-36,000 ounces as production ramps up at Araren and Marawuwung mining operations in Indonesia, the analyst says.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026

According to CEO Elon Musk, the Cybercab is expected to eventually be sold for less than $30,000 as production ramps up.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 31, 2026

The performers stretch grumpily and gather in groups to talk and smoke as the workmen drop ramps and unload stock.

From "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen

Broadcasters have ramped up experiments with format, style and tone - Disney+ even had a dog on set during their coverage - but perhaps unsurprisingly, not every idea proves to be successful.

From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026

The Saudi ministry official went on to accuse the Houthis of refusing to meet as fighting ramped up between the two sides.

From Barron's ● Oct. 15, 2026

The district concurrently ramped up student support through the Black Student Achievement Plan and other efforts.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026

Along with its neighbours, Latvia and Lithuania, the country has ramped up defence investment and remains a staunch ally of Kyiv.

From Barron's ● Sep. 29, 2026

He agreed that the US program should be ramped up to recover the American lead in nuclear weaponry, but he thought his visitors’ fancies had far outrun the practicality of the Super.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik

Sweeney said ramping up the use of AI is Epic's "modest aim to survive the AI revolution" and end up "making better code and content faster".

From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2026

Rumblings are ramping up for a different kind of Charger turnover.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 11, 2026

Fundamental support for those stocks is broadening out, with manufacturing backlogs ramping up across machinery, fabricated metals and other categories, and manufacturing data showing a buildup in orders, strategists said.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 5, 2026

Politicians who once championed the AI infrastructure build-out have changed their tunes right as companies are pouring hundreds of billions of dollars into ramping up computing capacity.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026

‘The shrine is ramping up our emotions,’ she said.

From "Blood of Olympus" by Rick Riordan

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Related Words

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