PYRAMID • DICCIONARIO INGLES.COM • Definition of Pyramid

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/pˈɪrəmɪd/ Listen

noun

Pyramid n.

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.

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.

3.

pl. (Billiards) The game of pool in which the balls are placed in the form of a triangle at spot. (Eng.)

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.

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.

verb

Pyramid v. t. (Speculation) To use, or to deal in, in a pyramiding transaction. See Pyramid, v. i.

Pyramid 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.

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Etymology of 'Pyramid'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Pyramid" Quotes from Famous Books

... the fisherman with his skiff and his nets no longer animates the surface of its waters. Nazareth still retains some portion of its former consequence. Six miles farther south stands the hill of Tabor, sometimes denominated Itabyrius, presenting a pyramid of verdure crowned with olives and sycamores. From the top of this mountain, the modern Tor and scene of the transfiguration, we look down on the river Jordan, the Lake of ...

— Palestine or the Holy Land - From the Earliest Period to the Present Time • Michael Russell

... pleasure and artificial gardens are many columns and pyramids of marble, two fountains that spout water one round the other like a pyramid, upon which are perched small birds that stream water out of their bills. In the Grove of Diana is a very agreeable fountain, with Actaeon turned into a stag, as he was sprinkled by the goddess and ...

— Travels in England and Fragmenta Regalia • Paul Hentzner and Sir Robert Naunton

... his hand. "Don't say any more; don't try to excuse her to me. It's of no use. Good night." But a few feet from the porch he stopped to add, less grimly: "I should have said good morning. You see how that pyramid stands out against that pale streak of horizon. There is only time for a nap before sunrise. ...

— The Rim of the Desert • Ada Woodruff Anderson

... Wren. The building is in all respects like others of its period, but has a curious spire added later. This has been described as "two hogsheads placed crosswise, in the ends of which are the dials of the clock," and above is a kind of pyramid, ...

— The Strand District - The Fascination of London • Sir Walter Besant

... every description: a four-horse carriage full of broken crockery and kitchen utensils, with two or three dressed-up and beplumed negroes on each horse; a big wagon drawn by oxen and loaded with bales carefully corded and packed, damask armchairs, frying pans and pitchforks, and on top of this pyramid a negress wearing a necklace and with a feather stuck in her hair; an old country coach drawn by a single mule and with a load of ten trunks and, ten negroes, three of whom were upon the animal's back. Mingle with all this bath chairs, litters and sedan chairs piled high with loot of all kinds, ...

— The Memoirs of Victor Hugo • Victor Hugo

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