ramp1
[ramp]
- a sloping surface connecting two levels; incline.
- a short concave slope or bend, as one connecting the higher and lower parts of a staircase railing at a landing.
- any extensive sloping walk or passageway.
- the act of ramping.
- Also called boarding ramp. a movable staircase for entering or leaving a cabin door of an airplane.
- Also called parking ramp. apron(def 6).
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- (of animals) to stand or move with the forelegs or arms raised, as in animosity or excitement.
- (of a lion or other large quadruped represented on a coat of arms) to rise or stand on the hind legs.
- to rear as if to spring.
- to leap or dash with fury (often followed by about).
- to act violently; rage; storm: ramping and raging in a great fury.
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- to provide with a ramp or ramps: Entrances will be ramped to accommodate those in wheelchairs.
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- ramp along, Nautical. to sail on a tack with all sails filled.
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Origin of ramp1
1350–1400; (v.) Middle English rampen < Old French ramper to creep, crawl, climb; (noun) < French rampe, derivative of ramper
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
uplift, heighten, raise, pyramid, uphold, heave, ramp, poise, erect, pump, lift, hoist, tilt, levitate, boost, rear, upraise, uprear, stiltExamples from the Web for ramped
Contemporary Examples
Weapons that make you feel like your skin is on fire could probably be ramped up to the lethal zone.
Ramped promenades to either side provide the same wishful access to the disabled.
With the drought and fire came high winds, dust storms, record temperatures, and ramped up evaporation levels.
After the law was signed and the opposition lawsuits were filed, the White House ramped up its ACA messaging operation.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also ramped up the pressure.
Historical Examples
He ramped about the room like a wild beast in a confined cage.
The Diary of a Superfluous Man and Other StoriesIvn Turgnieff
I ramped and I stamped; I banned and I bellowed like desperation.
The ProvostJohn Galt
As the chain swung we saw the crate was really a clumsy cage in which ramped a huge and tawny form.
Where the Pavement EndsJohn Russell
There was a dusky room hung with blue stuffs where dragons black and gold crawled and ramped.
Where the Pavement EndsJohn Russell
He ramped through the scenes of the romance, said Clarke, like a young horse turned into a spring meadow.
Life of John KeatsWilliam Michael Rossetti
ramp
- a sloping floor, path, etc, that joins two surfaces at different levels
- a movable stairway by which passengers enter and leave an aircraft
- the act of ramping
- British slang a swindle, esp one involving exorbitant prices
- another name for sleeping policeman
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- (intr ; often foll by about or around) (esp of animals) to rush around in a wild excited manner
- to act in a violent or threatening manner, as when angry (esp in the phrase ramp and rage)
- (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
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Word Origin
C18 (n): from C13 rampe, from Old French ramper to crawl or rear, probably of Germanic origin; compare Middle Low German ramp cramp
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for ramped
ramp
n.1
1778, "slope," from French rampe, back-formation from Old French verb ramper "to climb, scale, mount;" see ramp (v.). Meaning "road on or off a major highway" is from 1952, American English.
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ramp
n.2
"rude, boisterous girl or woman," mid-15c., perhaps from ramp (v.). Cf. romp in Johnson's Dictionary (1755): "a rude, awkward, boisterous, untaught girl."
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ramp
v.
c.1300, "to climb; to stand on the hind legs" (of animals), from Old French ramper "to climb, scale, mount" (12c., in Modern French "to creep, crawl"), perhaps from Frankish *rampon "to contract oneself" (cf. Old High German rimpfan "to wrinkle," Old English hrimpan "to fold, wrinkle"), via notion of the bodily contraction involved in climbing [Klein], from Proto-Germanic *hrimp- "to contract oneself." Related: Ramped; ramping.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper