ramp

a wild onion, Allium tricoccum, of the amaryllis family, of eastern North America, having flat leaves and rounded clusters of whitish flowers; eaten raw or used as a flavoring in cooked foods.

Also called wild leek.

Origin:
1530–40; back formation from ramps ramson, variant (with intrusive p) of rams, earlier rammys, orig. the singular of ramson

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Collins

World English Dictionary

ramp (ræmp)

—n
1.	a sloping floor, path, etc, that joins two surfaces at different levels
2.	a movable stairway by which passengers enter and leave an aircraft
3.	the act of ramping
4.	slang (Brit) a swindle, esp one involving exorbitant prices
5.	another name for sleeping policeman

—vb
6.	(intr; often foll by about or around) (esp of animals) to rush around in a wild excited manner
7.	to act in a violent or threatening manner, as when angry (esp in the phrase ramp and rage)
8.	(tr) finance to buy (a security) in the market with the object of raising its price and enhancing the image of the company behind it for financial gain

[C18 (n): from C13 rampe, from Old French ramper to crawl or rear, probably of Germanic origin; compare Middle Low German ramp cramp]

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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

ramp

1778, "slope," from Fr. rampe, back-formation from O.Fr. verb ramper "to climb, creep" (12c.), perhaps from Frank. *rampon "to contract oneself" (cf. O.H.G. rimpfan "to wrinkle," O.E. hrimpan "to fold, wrinkle"

American Heritage

Abbreviations & Acronyms

RAMP
Rural Abandoned Mine Program

Example sentences

It is sequestered inside one of the arched masonry structures under the

bridge's main entrance ramp.

As the music gathers pace, she sets off, sashaying toward the cameras that

await her at the end of the ramp.

Flapping while running up a ramp takes far less energy than flight at the same

angle.

The country could well have afforded to ramp up domestic investment in key

areas.

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Images for ramp

Matching Quote

"Broadway, such as I see it now and have seen it for twenty- five years, is a ramp that was conceived by St. Thomas Aquinas while he was yet in the womb. It was meant originally to be used only by snakes and lizards, by the horned toad and the red heron, but when the great Spanish Armada was sunk the human kind wriggled out of the ketch and slopped over, creating by a sort of foul, ignominious squirm and wiggle the cunt-like cleft that runs from the Battery south to the golf links north through the dead and wormy center of Manhattan Island."

-Henry Miller