ramp
/ɹæmp/noun, verb
ramp is a noun meaning “An inclined surface that connects two levels; an incline” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is spelled R-A-M-P and has one syllable, and it appears 6.8 times per million words in written English (wordfreq, 2021 data). The plural of ramp is ramps.
What does ramp mean?
noun
- 1
An inclined surface that connects two levels; an incline.
- 2
CanadaUSAn interchange, a road that connects a freeway to a surface street or another freeway.
- 3
A structure with an inclined surface made for stunts, as for jumping motorcycles or other vehicles.
- 4
A mobile staircase that is attached to the doors of an aircraft at an airport.
- 5
A way of hitting a boundary by facing the bat face front and pushing with force to launch the ball. 100% of it done against pace.
He hit three ramps in a row to push his team near the opponents total.
- 6
A large parking area in an airport for aircraft, for loading and unloading or for storage (see also apron and tarmac).
- 7
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
A construction used to do skating tricks, usually in the form of part of a pipe.
- 9
Any of species Allium tricoccum of plants related to the onion; a wild leek.
- 10
obsoleteA promiscuous man or woman.
- 11
derogatoryA worthless person.
verb
- 1
To behave violently; to rage.
- 2
slangTo swindle or rob violently.
- 3
AustraliaslangTo search a prisoner or a prisoner's cell.
- 4
obsoleteTo spring; to leap; to bound, rear, or prance; to move swiftly or violently.
- 5
obsoleteTo climb, like a plant; to creep up.
- 6
obsoleteTo stand in a rampant position.
- 7
To (cause to) change value, often at a steady rate.
- 8
To adapt a piece of iron to the woodwork of a gate.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you pronounce ramp?
- /ɹæmp/
Ramp has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-ramp.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of ramp
- ramps plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- ramping participle, present
- ramped participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How common is ramp?
Ramp appears 6.8 times per million words in written English, the 9,165th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Ramp in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | rampe , passerelle , ramper , oignon sauvage, ail des bois, poireau sauvage |
| German | Rampe, Auffahrt , Gangway |
| Portuguese | rampa |
| Spanish | rampa, bajadero , puerro salvaje |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does ramp come from?
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 ġehrimpan (“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.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).