lope

lope (ləʊp)

—vb
1.	(intr) (of a person) to move or run with a long swinging stride
2.	(intr) (of four-legged animals) to run with a regular bounding movement
3.	to cause (a horse) to canter with a long easy stride or (of a horse) to canter in this manner

—n
4.	a long steady gait or stride

[C15: from Old Norse hlaupa to leap; compare Middle Dutch lopen to run]

'loper

—n

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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

lope

"to run with long strides," c.1825; earlier "to leap, jump, spring" (late 15c.), from O.N. hlaupa "to run, leap," from same Gmc. root as leap and gallop.

Example sentences

Dingoes regularly lope near homes and campsites, where people often toss them scraps.

In the off-season parking is plentiful, joggers lope along the macadam lot, and dogs frolic on the beach.

They dance, leap or lope past, often completely obscured by flowing garments.

While not built for land travel, the otter does move along rapidly in an awkward lope.

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Related Words

de Vega Lope de Vega Vega

Vega landloper

Matching Quote

"Shakespeare, who was considered the English Corneille, flourished at about the time of Lope de Vega. He had a strong and fertile genius, full of naturalness and sublimity, without the slightest spark of good taste or the least knowledge of the rules.... After two hundred years most of the outlandish and monstrous ideas of this author have acquired the right to be considered sublime, and almost all modern authors have copied him.... It does not occur to people that they should not copy him, and the lack of success of their copies simply makes people think that he is inimitable."

-Voltaire