ramp

B2 Topic:General Vocabulary

US /ɹæmp/ See IPA manual

Minimal pairs

Sounds like romp /æ/ vs /ɑ/

Freq #10335

Meanings

1

noun
A sloping surface that joins two levels, used instead of stairs.

She pushed the wheelchair up the ramp into the building.
2

verb
To increase something steadily over time (usually with up).

The factory plans to ramp up production before the holidays.
3

verb
To provide a place with a ramp.

The old theatre was ramped to allow wheelchair access.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Word family

Forms rampedrampingramps

Derived forms derampminirampoff-rampon-ramponrampramp-uprampableramperrampieramplessramplikerampman

Related forms buckramrampage rampant

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

exit ramp
a sloping connecting road used to leave a highway

Noun + noun

Etymology

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.

rampe French ramper Old French *hrampōn frk *hrimpaną Proto-Germanic

View etymology graph ->

Topics

General Vocabulary

External links

# ramp

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** noun, verb
**IPA (US):** /ɹæmp/
**Frequency rank:** 10335

## Meanings
1. A sloping surface that joins two levels, used instead of stairs.
2. To increase something steadily over time (usually with up).
3. To provide a place with a ramp.

## Examples
- She pushed the wheelchair up the ramp into the building.
- The factory plans to ramp up production before the holidays.
- The old theatre was ramped to allow wheelchair access.

## Derived Forms
- deramp
- miniramp
- off-ramp
- on-ramp
- onramp
- ramp-up
- rampable
- ramper
- rampie
- rampless
- ramplike
- rampman

## Related Forms
- buckram
- rampage
- rampant

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: rampe
- Root: ramper
- Root: *hrampōn
- Root: *hrimpaną

## Etymology
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.

## AI Etymology
Ramp comes 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. Modern senses include a sloping surface that joins two levels, used instead of stairs. and to increase something steadily over time (usually with up).. The wider word family includes derivatives such as deramp, miniramp, off-ramp, on-ramp, onramp, and ramp-up and related forms such as buckram, rampage, and rampant.

## Topics
- General Vocabulary

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