ramp

1 of 5

noun (1)

ˈramp 

1

: a sloping way or plane: such as

a

: a sloping floor, walk, or roadway leading from one level to another

b

: a slope for launching boats

2

: apron sense 2h

ramp

2 of 5

verb (1)

ramped; ramping; ramps

intransitive verb

: to speed up, expand, or increase especially quickly or at a constant rate

—used with up

ramping up to full speed

The backlash is a sign of tensions that could intensify as the governor ramps up for reelection next year.

—Josh Burek

The raisin giant ramps up for Halloween by selling bags of 14 half-ounce raisin boxes.

—Bruce Horovitz

Furthermore, some of these heat processes must be "ramped up." That is, the heat must be gradually raised to the processing temperature …

—George Lawton

transitive verb

: to increase, expand, or decrease especially quickly or at a constant rate

—usually used with up or down

ramp up production

… James Bay and Tori Kelly, two best new artist nominees, traded their songs on acoustic guitars, ramping up the vibrato.

—Jon Pareles

see also ramp-up

ramp

3 of 5

noun (2)

: any of various alliums used for food

ramp

4 of 5

verb (2)

ramped; ramping; ramps

intransitive verb

1

a

: to stand or advance menacingly with forelegs or with arms raised

b

: to move or act furiously

2

: to creep up

—used especially of plants

ramp

5 of 5

noun (3)

plural ramps

old-fashioned + literary

: the act or an instance of ramping (see ramp entry 4)

It is the ramp of the lion by the side of the … snarl of the cur.

—Edmund Burke

(figurative) … the whirr / Of the crickets is lost in the roar / And the ramp of the southern gale …

—Hamlin Garland

Examples of ramp in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

This is Harris’ second visit to the city in two weeks as the Biden-Harris administration ramps up its re-election campaign in North Carolina. —Jeff A. Chamer, Charlotte Observer, 4 Apr. 2024

Northbound Loop 202 ramps to eastbound I-10 closed Eastbound I-10 on-ramps at 79th, 75th and 67th Avenues closed When: From 9 p.m. on Friday, March 29, to 5 a.m. on Monday, April 1. —Brenna Gauchat, The Arizona Republic, 29 Mar. 2024

Accessibility: Wheelchair users can enter the restaurant using a removable ramp, but the restrooms are cramped and stairs lead to the second-floor dining room. —Tom Sietsema, Washington Post, 22 Mar. 2024

Ukrainian soldiers spent hours ducking in trenches as artillery exploded around them, then dashed for the safety of an armored personnel carrier — only to be chased through the open rear ramp of the vehicle by an exploding drone. —Maria Varenikova, New York Times, 20 Mar. 2024

Officials said his vehicle was found unlocked, with the keys still inside, near the boat ramp, and his kayak was found on the water nearby. —Brenda Ordonez, The Enquirer, 16 Mar. 2024

The hotel has accessible public spaces — the guest house has a mobile ramp — and select guest rooms have lowered coat hangers and light switches, roll-in showers, and bars throughout the bathroom. —Lydia Mansel, Travel + Leisure, 15 Mar. 2024

On either side are dozens of rooms filled with workers installing electrical wires, adding insulation and wheelchair accessible ramps, and painting rooms. —Claire Harbage, NPR, 27 Mar. 2024

Busch Stadium The project permanently shut down a highway ramp, which was on the site of the stadium, in addition to a street that ran through the stadium’s footprint. —Eleanor Nash, Kansas City Star, 25 Mar. 2024

Verb

Agents whose clients have been affected say the switches ramped up last year and are continuing into 2024, although quantifying the problem continues to be difficult. —Julie Appleby, NPR, 8 Apr. 2024

To reduce barriers to accessing health care, Chiricahua has opened clinics around the county and is ramping up its mobile clinic program to meet the needs of most rural patients. —Sarah Lapidus, The Arizona Republic, 7 Apr. 2024

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has had her hands full in recent months, working to clear homeless encampments, ramp up hiring at the Police Department and finalize her strategy for erasing a shortfall in next year’s budget. —David Zahniser, Los Angeles Times, 6 Apr. 2024

And a month later, after a gritty second to Colorado in the Wyoming World Match Play at Indian Wells Golf Resort, the Titans were ramping up Drotter’s blood pressure again. —Brian Robin, Orange County Register, 5 Apr. 2024

Billions of dollars have been pledged, as well as schemes by individual nations to purchase and ramp up the production of ammunition and weapons. —Luke McGee, CNN, 4 Apr. 2024

Iran — already notorious for its high rate of executions — has ramped up its use of the death penalty, according to anAmnesty International report published Thursday. —Nilo Tabrizy, Washington Post, 4 Apr. 2024

The Saudis can also ramp up output at short notice, to more than 12 million barrels a day, if the world needs it—something no other country can do. —Vivienne Walt, Fortune, 4 Apr. 2024

Its lobbying activity related to foreign health policy ramped up beginning in 2016, as World Health Organization nations considered a resolution aimed at ending the promotion of toddler formula. —Heather Vogell, ProPublica, 2 Apr. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

borrowed from French rampe, going back to Middle French, "inclined plane on which the steps of a staircase are built," noun derivative of ramper "to crawl, creep, move slowly along a surface," going back to Old French — more at ramp entry 4

Verb (1)

in part verbal derivative of ramp1, implying upward or downward movement on a ramp, in part derivative of ramp "artificial stimulation of a situation, market, etc., for financial or political gain," probably derivative of 19th-century British slang ramp "to rob, swindle," of uncertain origin

Noun (2)

back-formation from ramps, alteration (by intrusive p) of rams "the wild garlic Allium ursinum," going back to Middle English ramese, rampses, ramzys, going back to Old English hramsa, hramse (masculine or feminine weak noun), going back to Germanic *hramusan- or *hramusjōn- (whence also Old Saxon ramusia "wild garlic," Middle Low German ramese, remese, regional German Rams) going back to dialectal Indo-European *ḱrom-us-, ablaut variant of a noun seen also in Middle Irish crem, crim "wild garlic," Welsh craf, cra (< Celtic *kremo-, kramo-?), Russian čeremšá, Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian srȉjemuš, srȉjemuša, also crȉjemuš, crȉjemuša, Lithuanian kermùšė, kermušė͂, beside šermùkšnis, šermùkšlė "mountain ash" (< *kerm-(o)us-i̯eh₂, *ḱerm-(o)us-i̯eh₂), Greek krómmyon, krémyon (Hesychius) "onion (Allium cepa) (< *ḱrom-us-o-/*ḱrem-us-o-)

Note: While Balto-Slavic has *ḱerm-, the other languages appear to have *ḱrVm- (or *ḱr̥m-?). The fluctuation between palatovelar and plain velar in Balto-Slavic has been explained as a result of an original *ḱrem-, with loss of palatal quality before r. The word is found only within European Indo-European, and regarded by some as a Wanderwort or borrowing from a substratal language.

Verb (2)

Middle English rampen, raumpen "to creep on the ground (of a snake or dragon), to spring up, rear up on the hind legs (of a lion or other large carnivore)," borrowed from Anglo-French ramper "to climb, rear up on the hind legs, creep" (also continental Old French), perhaps going back to a Germanic base *hramp- used in various expressive words, as Middle Dutch ramp "mishap, disaster," rampe "torticollis in birds," Middle Low German ramp "spasm, epilepsy, distress, disaster," Old English gehrumpen "wrinkled, coiled, contracted," Old High German rimpfan, preterit rampf "to shrivel, shrink"

Note: Though the Germanic origin of ramper is generally accepted (as by Französisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Trésor de la langue française), the semantic connections are tenuous. Hypothetically akin to this verb is a noun *hrampa- meaning "hook, claw," whence Italian rampa "claw, talon," alongside Spanish, Catalan rampa "cramp, spasm." Suggested Indo-European comparisons (Lithuanian kremblỹs "chantarelle," Greek krámbos "clear, dry [of a sound]") are even more tenuous.

Noun (3)

derivative of ramp entry 4

First Known Use

Noun (1)

1705, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb (1)

1980, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense

Noun (2)

1826, in the meaning defined above

Verb (2)

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Noun (3)

1671, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing ramp

• ramp-up
• off-ramp
• wheelchair ramp
• on-ramp
• curb ramp

Kids Definition

ramp

noun

ˈramp

: a sloping way or plane: as

a

: a sloping passage or roadway connecting different levels

b

: a slope for launching boats