Wiktionary

ramp

See also: Ramp

English

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Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ɹæmp/
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Rhymes: -æmp

Etymology 1

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From French rampe, from Middle French rampe, deverbal of ramper, from Old French ramper (“to crawl, climb, scale up”), from Frankish *hrampōn (“to contract oneself, wrinkle, rumple, crumple, curve”), from Proto-Germanic *hrimpaną (“to shrivel, shrink”). Cognate with German Rampf (“retraction, curvature, shrinkage, spasm”). Doublet of romp.

Akin also to Old English hrimpan (“to wrinkle, rimple, rumple”), Old High German rimpfan (German rümpfen (“to wrinkle up”)). Compare Danish rimpe (“to fold" (archaic), "to baste”), Icelandic rimpa. More at rimple.

Noun

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ramp (plural ramps)

  2. An inclined surface that connects two levels; an incline.
  3. An interchange, a road that connects a freeway to a surface street or another freeway.
  4. A structure with an inclined surface made for stunts, as for jumping motorcycles or other vehicles.
  5. (aviation) A mobile staircase that is attached to the doors of an aircraft at an airport.
  6. (aviation) A large parking area in an airport for aircraft, for loading and unloading or for storage (see also apron and tarmac).
  7. (aviation) A surface inside the air intake of a supersonic aircraft which adjusts in position to allow for efficient shock wave compression of incoming air at a wide range of different Mach numbers.
  8. (skating) A construction used to do skating tricks, usually in the form of part of a pipe.
  9. A scale of values.
    • 2003, Julio Sanchez, Maria P. Canton, The PC Graphics Handbook, page 915:
      The RGB model uses the color component of light sources in order to produce more realistic and pleasant results. Internal color representations are always based on a palette-based color ramp.
    • 2013, Sam Kauffmann, Ashley Kennedy, Avid Editing: A Guide for Beginning and Intermediate Users, page 40:
      We have created a volume ramp. Play the section in the Timeline and listen to the volume change.
  10. A speed bump. (Can we add an example for this sense?)
  11. (slang) An act of violent robbery.
  12. (slang) A deliberate swindle or fraud.
    • 1819, Steven Poole, Steven Poole's word of the week‎[1]:
      We are surely not meant to think of the sense of “ramp” (from 1819) that means a deliberate swindle or fraud, such as announcing that you have done more tests than you actually have because a third were just posted out.
  13. (Australia, slang) A search, conducted by authorities, of a prisoner or a prisoner's cell.
  14. (obsolete) A leap or bound.
  15. A concave bend at the top or cap of a railing, wall, or coping; a romp.
Derived terms
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Translations
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Verb

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ramp (third-person singular simple present ramps, present participle ramping, simple past and past participle ramped)

  1. To behave violently; to rage.
    • 1938, Xavier Herbert, chapter XII, in Capricornia‎[2], New York: D. Appleton-Century, published 1943, page 196:
      Mick raged and ramped at the barred door till his voice failed,
  2. (slang, transitive) To swindle or rob violently.
  3. (Australia, slang, transitive) To search a prisoner or a prisoner's cell.
  4. (obsolete, intransitive) To spring; to leap; to bound, rear, or prance; to move swiftly or violently.
    • 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto V”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 28:
      Their bridles they would champe, / And trampling the fine element would fiercely rampe.
    • 1911, G. K. Chesterton, “The Sign of the Broken Sword”, in The Innocence of Father Brown:
      I’ve seen a ramping equestrian statue of General St. Clare on the Embankment.
    • 1950, C. S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe:
      The shield was the colour of silver and across it there ramped a red lion, as bright as a ripe strawberry at the moment when you pick it.
  5. (obsolete, intransitive) To climb, like a plant; to creep up.
    • 1691, John Ray, The Wisdom of God Manifested in the Works of the Creation. […], London: […] Samuel Smith, […], →OCLC:
      With claspers and tendrils, they [plants] catch hold, […] and so ramping upon trees, […] they mount up to a great height.
  6. (obsolete, intransitive) To stand in a rampant position.
    • 1484, Thomas Malory, “Book Nine: The historye of La cote male tayle, Chapter 1”, in Le Morte d'Arthur:
      And that lyon gaped wyde and came vpon hym raumppynge to haue slayne hym.
  7. (transitive, intransitive) To (cause to) change value, often at a steady rate.
    • 2007, Sean Meyn, Control Techniques for Complex Networks, page 285:
      If Q(t) < qp then primary generation ramps up at maximal rate, subject to the constraint that Q(t) does not exceed this threshold.
    • 2011, Sheng Liu, Yong Liu, Modeling and Simulation for Microelectronic Packaging Assembly:
      The forces are ramped down gradually to ensure that element removal has a smooth effect on the model.
  8. To adapt a piece of iron to the woodwork of a gate.
Derived terms
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Translations
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Etymology 2

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ramp - Allium tricoccum

See ramson. This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

Noun

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ramp (plural ramps)

  1. An American plant, Allium tricoccum, related to the onion; a wild leek.
    • 2006, Su Clauson-Wicker, Off the Beaten Path West Virginia, volume 6, page 61:
      A ramp is a potently flavored wild scallion, a vegetable with staying power.
  2. (Appalachia) A promiscuous man or woman.
  3. (Appalachia, derogatory) A worthless person.
Synonyms
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Translations
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See also

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Further reading

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Anagrams

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Dutch

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Dutch Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia nl

Etymology 1

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From Middle Dutch ramp (“misfortune”). Related to rimpel (“wrinkle”). In the 19th century, the grammatical gender of the word was a matter of debate. It was finally standardized as feminine, departing from its historical masculine gender.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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ramp f (plural rampen, diminutive rampje n)

  1. disaster, catastrophe
    Mensen wensen geluk en welvaart en verafschuwen ongeluk en rampen
    People wish happiness and prosperity and abhor mishap and disasters
  2. an accident
Synonyms
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Derived terms
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Etymology 2

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Borrowed from French rampe, back-formation of Old French ramper, from Frankish *rampōn, *hrampōn (“to contract oneself”).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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ramp f (plural rampen, diminutive rampje n)

  1. a ramp
  2. a driveway
Synonyms
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Derived terms
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Etymology 3

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Borrowed from English ramp, from French rampe.

Pronunciation

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  • Hyphenation: ramp
  • Rhymes: -ɛmp

Noun

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ramp m (plural ramps, diminutive rampje n)

  1. (skating) a construction to do skating tricks, usually in the form of one half of a pipe, a half-pipe

Icelandic

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Pronunciation

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Noun

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ramp

  1. indefinite accusative singular of rampur

Middle Dutch

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Etymology

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Related to rimpel (“wrinkle”).

Noun

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ramp m

  1. epilepsy, (human) cramp
  2. bird claw disease, bird cramp
  3. disaster, misfortune

Inflection

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This noun needs an inflection-table template.

Descendants

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  • Dutch: ramp

Further reading

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  • “ramp”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000

Swedish

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Noun

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ramp c

  1. a ramp (inclined surface connecting two levels)
  2. a row of lights (especially at the front of a stage, i.e. footlights)
  3. (by extension) (the front of) a stage
  4. a missile launch platform

Declension

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Declension of ramp
nominative genitive
singular indefinite ramp ramps
definite rampen rampens
plural indefinite ramper rampers
definite ramperna rampernas

Derived terms

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References

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