pyr⋅a⋅mid
[pir-uh-mid] 
| 1. | Architecture.
|
| 2. | anything of such form. |
| 3. | a number of persons or things arranged or heaped up in this manner: a pyramid of acrobats; a pyramid of boxes. |
| 4. | a system or structure resembling a pyramid, as in hierarchical form. |
| 5. | Geometry. a solid having a polygonal base, and triangular sides that meet in a point. |
| 6. | Crystallography. any form the planes of which intersect all three of the axes. |
| 7. | Anatomy, Zoology. any of various parts or structures of pyramidal form. |
| 8. | Also called pyramid scheme. a scheme that pyramids, as in speculating on the stock exchange or writing a chain letter. |
| 9. | a tree pruned or trained to grow in conical form. |
| 10. | pyramids, (used with a singular verb ) British. a form of pocket billiards for two or four players in which 15 colored balls, initially placed in the form of a triangle, are pocketed with one white cue ball. |
| 11. | to take, or become disposed in, the form of a pyramid. |
| 12. | Stock Exchange. (in speculating on margin) to enlarge one's operations in a series of transactions, as on a continued rise or decline in price, by using profits in transactions not yet closed, and consequently not yet in hand, as margin for additional buying or selling in the next transaction. |
| 13. | to increase gradually, as with the completion of each phase: Our problems are beginning to pyramid. |
| 14. | to arrange in the form of a pyramid. |
| 15. | to raise or increase (costs, wages, etc.) by adding amounts gradually. |
| 16. | to cause to increase at a steady and progressive rate: New overseas markets have pyramided the company's profits. |
| 17. | Stock Exchange. (in speculating on margin) to operate in, or employ in, pyramiding. |
1350–1400; < L pȳramid- (s. of pȳramis) < Gk pȳramís; r. ME pyramis < L, as above
Related forms:
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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| pyr·a·mid (pĭr'ə-mĭd) n.
v. tr.
[Latin pȳramis, pȳramid-, from Greek pūramis, probably of Egyptian origin.] py·ram'i·dal (pĭ-rām'ĭ-dl), pyr'a·mid'ic (-mĭd'ĭk), pyr'a·mid'i·cal (-ĭ-kəl) adj., py·ram'i·dal·ly adv. |
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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pyramids
A group of huge monuments in the desert of Egypt, built as burial vaults for ancient Egyptian kings. The age of pyramid building in Egypt began about 2700 b.c. (See under “World History to 1550.”)
pyramids
A group of huge monuments in the Egyptian desert, built as burial vaults for the pharaohs and one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The pyramids have square bases and four triangular faces. Pyramid building began in Egypt about 2700 b.c. and required vast amounts of slave labor.
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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pyramids
British pocket-billiards game in which 15 red balls are arranged in a pyramid formation to begin. Players use a white cue ball in attempting to pocket the reds, scoring one point for each; the player who scores the highest number of pocketed balls is the winner. Players lose a point and respot a red ball each time they pocket the cue ball or fail to contact a red ball. A player shoots until he fails to pocket a ball, and an opponent then continues play from the point at which the cue ball comes to rest. Pyramids was a forerunner of the game snooker.
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