Pyramid

Pyr´a`mid

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.

(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.

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

(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.

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.

v. t.

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

Noun	1.	pyramid - a polyhedron having a polygonal base and triangular sides with a common vertex
	2.	pyramid - (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.	Pyramid - a massive memorial with a square base and four triangular sides; built as royal tombs in ancient Egypt Synonyms: Great Pyramid
Verb	1.	pyramid - enlarge one's holdings on an exchange on a continued rise by using paper profits as margin to buy additional amounts
	2.	pyramid - use or deal in (as of stock or commercial transaction) in a pyramid deal
	3.	pyramid - arrange or build up as if on the base of a pyramid
	4.	pyramid - increase rapidly and progressively step by step on a broad base

To see pyramids in your dream, signifies that many new and major changes will be occurring in a short amount of time. It is a symbol of longevity, stability, and a firm foundation. To dream that you are climbing a pyramid, denotes that you will wander aimlessly for awhile before finding the gratification of your desires.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