ramp up

verb, noun — 5 senses

ramp up

verbalso spelled ramp-up

US /ˌɹæmp ˈʌp/

1

To increase rapidly to a new value.

  • Near-synonym: build up
  • Headcount ramped up over three months.
2

To increase (something) rapidly to a new value; to cause (something) to ramp up.

  • Near-synonym: build up
  • The manager ramped up headcount.
4 more examples
  • Overnight, as the storm bore down on urban flood zones, city officials ramped up emergency spaces to shelter thousands more people, mostly in public schools and colleges.2012 November 20, Nina Bernstein, “Storm Bared a Lack of Options for the Homeless in New York”, in The New York Times:
  • For entirely self-serving reasons, ministers and civil servants never dispelled the public belief that uncaring 'fat cat' privateers or foreign state railways were in control, ramping up fares and creaming off profits which either enriched shareholders or subsidised European rail fares. DfT left train operators to 'take the heat' - which they dutifully did, fearful of speaking up and 'biting the hand that feeds'.2020 September 23, Nigel Harris, “Comment: We MUST seize the moment”, in Rail, page 3:
  • Liberal activists promised a well-funded summertime blitz, replete with home-state rallies and million-dollar ad campaigns, to try to ramp up pressure on a handful of Senate Democrats opposed to changing the rules.2021 June 22, Nicholas Fandos, “Republicans Block Voting Rights Bill, Dealing Blow to Biden and Democrats”, in The New York Times:
  • In recent years, Beijing has ramped up economic, diplomatic and military pressure on Taiwan – a self-ruling democracy the Chinese Communist Party claims as its own despite having never governed it.2023 March 13, Eric Cheung, Nectar Gan, “Taiwan says soldier who went missing has been found in China”, in CNN, archived from the original on 13 Mar 2023:
3

To start up; to be in an initial phase of rapid increase.

  • Near-synonyms: fire up, spin up
  • The 5G development project will ramp up in the first quarter.
2 more examples
  • It's only fair to note that during the toddler years, the nightmare phase is just ramping up for many children.2004, Jana Murphy, The Secret Lives of Toddlers, Perigee, →ISBN, page 118:
  • For projects that are just ramping up, a reasonable estimate should be made for the foreseeable future.2007, John A. Cogliandro, Intelligent Innovation: Four Steps to Achieving a Competitive Edge, J. Ross Publishing, published 2007, →ISBN, page 71:
4

Management To start (something) up; to cause (something) to ramp up.

  • Near-synonyms: fire up, spin up
  • He wants to be first to ramp up his project.
Derived terms
ramp-up
Related terms
bone up
Coordinate terms
level up, step up

ramp-up

noun

Etymology Deverbal from ramp up.

1

A sudden increase; a boost.

Related terms
startup, step-up

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — authors: page histories for ramp up and ramp-up.