Dictionary Home » Dictionary Definitions » ramp

ramp

Listen See in Thesaurus See in a sentence

The definition of a ramp is a sloped or curved surface that joins different levels.

(noun)

An example of a ramp is how someone in a wheelchair would get onto a sidewalk from a street.
An example of a ramp is the sloping runway used to launch a boat into water from a trailer.

See ramp in Webster's New World College Dictionary

noun

a sloping, sometimes curved, surface, walk, road, etc. joining different levels
☆ a means for boarding or leaving a plane, as a staircase on wheels rolled up to the door
a concave bend or curve where a handrail or coping changes its direction, as at a staircase landing
a sloping runway for launching boats, as from trailers

Origin: Fr rampe < OFr ramper: see ramp

intransitive verb

1. to stand upright on the hind legs
2. Heraldry to be depicted rampant
to assume a threatening posture
to move or rush threateningly, violently, or with fury; rampage

Origin: ME rampen < OFr ramper, to climb, clamber < Frank *rampon, to cramp together < Gmc *rampa, claw, akin to MDu ramp, cramp < IE *(s)kremb-, var. of base *(s)kerb(h)-, to twist, curve > shrimp, harp

noun

the act of ramping

noun

a wild leek (Allium tricoccum) having a pair of broad basal leaves in spring, followed by a naked flower stalk: its strongly flavored bulbs are edible

Origin: taken as sing. of ramps, var. of dial. rams, wild garlic < ME < OE hramsa, wild garlic < IE base *krem- > Gr kremyon, MIr crem, Lith kermùšė

See ramp in American Heritage Dictionary 4

noun

An inclined surface or roadway connecting different levels.
A mobile staircase by which passengers board and leave an aircraft.
A concave bend of a handrail where a sharp change in level or direction occurs, as at a stair landing.

Origin:

Origin: French rampe

Origin: , from ramper, to slope, rise up

Origin: , from Old French; see ramp²

intransitive verb ramped, ramp·ing, ramps