ramp
n.
1
1778, "slope," from French rampe, back-formation from Old French verb ramper "to climb, scale, mount;" see ramp, v.. Meaning "road on or off a major highway" is from 1952, American English.
2
"rude, boisterous girl or woman," mid-15c., perhaps from ramp, v.. Compare romp in Johnson's Dictionary (1755): "a rude, awkward, boisterous, untaught girl."
v.
c.1300, "to climb; to stand on the hind legs" (of animals), from Old French ramper "to climb, scale, mount" (12c., in Modern French "to creep, crawl"), perhaps from Frankish *rampon "to contract oneself" (compare Old High German rimpfan "to wrinkle," Old English hrimpan "to fold, wrinkle"), via notion of the bodily contraction involved in climbing [Klein], from Proto-Germanic *hrimp- "to contract oneself." Related: Ramped; ramping.