ramp 1
(rămp)n.1. An inclined surface or roadway connecting different levels.
2. A mobile staircase by which passengers board and leave an aircraft.
3. A concave bend of a handrail where a sharp change in level or direction occurs, as at a stair landing.
Phrasal Verbs: ramp down To decrease in volume, amount, or rate: As the project ramped down, several employees were laid off.
ramp up To increase in volume, amount, or rate: The factory ramped up production to meet the increased demand.
[French rampe, from ramper, to slope, rise up, from Old French; see ramp2.]
ramp 2
(rămp)intr.v. ramped,
ramp·ing,
ramps 1. To rush around or act in a threatening or violent manner.
2. To assume a threatening stance, as in rearing up on hindlegs.
3. Heraldry To stand in the rampant position.
[Middle English rampen, from Old French ramper, to rear, rise up, of Germanic origin.]
ramp n.
ramp 3
(rămp) also ramps (rămps)n. A plant (Allium tricoccum) of the eastern United States having small bulbs and young leaves that are edible and have a pungent onionlike flavor. Also called wild leek.
[Variant of rams, from Middle English ramse, from Old English hramsa.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
ramp up
vb (
adverb)
1. to increase or cause to increase
2. (intr) to increase the effort involved in a process
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014