Pyramid

5 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Pyramid \Pyr"a*mid\, v. i. (Speculation)
     To enlarge one's holding or interest in a series of
     operations on a continued rise or decline by using the
     profits to buy or sell additional amounts on a margin, as
     where one buys on a 10% margin 100 shares of stock quoted at
     100, holds it till it rises to 105, and then uses the paper


     profit to buy 50 shares more, etc. The series of operations
     constitutes a pyramid. A similar process of reinvesting gains
     or winnings (as of a gamble), but not involving operation on
     margin, is called a {parlay}.
     [Webster 1913 Suppl. +PJC]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Pyramid \Pyr"a*mid\, v. t. (Speculation)
     To use, or to deal in, in a pyramiding transaction. See
     {Pyramid}, v. i.
     [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Pyramid \Pyr"a*mid\, n. [L. pyramis, -idis, fr. Gr. ?, ?, of
     Egyptian origin: cf. F. pyramide.]
     [1913 Webster]
     1. A solid body standing on a triangular, square, or
        polygonal base, and terminating in a point at the top;
        especially, a structure or edifice of this shape.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. (Geom.) A solid figure contained by a plane rectilineal
        figure as base and several triangles which have a common
        vertex and whose bases are sides of the base.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. pl. (Billiards) The game of pool in which the balls are
        placed in the form of a triangle at spot. [Eng.]
        [1913 Webster]
  
     4. (Finance) a fraudulent investment scheme in which the
        manager promises high profits, but instead of investing
        the money in a genuine profit-making activity, uses the
        money from later investors to pay the profits to earlier
        investors; -- also called {pyramid scheme} or {pyramid
        operation}. This process inevitably collapses when
        insufficient new investors are available, leaving the
        later investors with total or near-total losses of their
        investments. The managers usually blame government
        regulations or interference for the collapse of the
        scheme, rather than admit fraud.
        [PJC]
  
     {Altitude of a pyramid} (Geom.), the perpendicular distance
        from the vertex to the plane of the base.
  
     {Axis of a pyramid} (Geom.), a straight line drawn from the
        vertex to the center of the base.
  
     {Earth pyramid}. (Geol.) See {Earth pillars}, under {Earth}.
        
  
     {Right pyramid} (Geom.) a pyramid whose axis is perpendicular
        to the base.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  pyramid
       n 1: a polyhedron having a polygonal base and triangular sides
            with a common vertex
       2: (stock market) a series of transactions in which the
          speculator increases his holdings by using the rising
          market value of those holdings as margin for further
          purchases
       3: a massive memorial with a square base and four triangular
          sides; built as royal tombs in ancient Egypt [syn: {Great
          Pyramid}]
       v 1: enlarge one's holdings on an exchange on a continued rise by
            using paper profits as margin to buy additional amounts
       2: use or deal in (as of stock or commercial transaction) in a
          pyramid deal
       3: arrange or build up as if on the base of a pyramid
       4: increase rapidly and progressively step by step on a broad
          base

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  219 Moby Thesaurus words for "pyramid":
     add to, aggrandize, amplify, animal kingdom, antenna tower,
     anthill, arch, architecture, augment, bank, bank up, barbican,
     barrow, be caught short, be short, beehive tomb, belfry,
     bell tower, belong, bone house, boost, boundary stone, box grave,
     brass, broaden, bucket, bucketshop, build, build up, building,
     burial, burial chamber, burial mound, bust, cairn, campanile,
     catacombs, cenotaph, chain of being, charnel house, cist,
     cist grave, class structure, cock, colossus, column, construct,
     construction, cromlech, cross, crypt, cup, cupola, cyclolith,
     deep six, deposit margin, derrick, dokhma, dolmen, domain, dome,
     drift, dune, edifice, embankment, enlarge, erection, establishment,
     exalt, expand, extend, fabric, fatten, fill out, fire tower,
     footstone, go long, grave, gravestone, haycock, haymow, hayrick,
     haystack, headstone, heap, heap up, hierarchy, hike, hike up, hill,
     hoarstone, hold on, house, house of death, increase, inflate,
     inscription, jack up, jump up, kingdom, lantern, last home,
     lengthen, lighthouse, long home, low green tent, low house,
     make a killing, make a scoop, margin up, marker, martello,
     martello tower, mass, mast, mastaba, mausoleum, maximize, megalith,
     memento, memorial, memorial arch, memorial column, memorial statue,
     memorial stone, menhir, minaret, mineral kingdom, miss the market,
     molehill, monolith, monstrance, monument, mound, mountain, mow,
     mummy chamber, narrow house, natural hierarchy, necrology, obelisk,
     obituary, observation tower, operate, ossuarium, ossuary,
     overstay the market, packaged house, pagoda, parlay, passage grave,
     pecking order, pilaster, pile, pile up, pillar, pinnacle, pit,
     plaque, play the market, plunge, pole, power structure, prefab,
     prefabrication, prize, put up, pylon, raise, realm, reliquary,
     remembrance, resting place, ribbon, rick, rostral column, scalp,
     scoop the market, sepulcher, shaft, shaft grave, shrine,
     skyscraper, snowdrift, speculate, spire, stack, stack up, stag,
     stag the market, standpipe, steeple, stela, stone, structure,
     stupa, superstructure, tablet, take a flier, television mast,
     testimonial, thicken, tomb, tombstone, tope, tour, tower,
     tower of silence, trade on margin, trophy, tumulus, turret, up,
     vault, vegetable kingdom, venture, water tower, windmill tower,
     windrow