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slope - 9 dictionary results

slope

  [slohp] verb, sloped, slop⋅ing, noun
Use slope in a Sentence
–verb (used without object)
1. to have or take an inclined or oblique direction or angle considered with reference to a vertical or horizontal plane; slant.
2. to move at an inclination or obliquely: They sloped gradually westward.
–verb (used with object)
3. to direct at a slant or inclination; incline from the horizontal or vertical: The sun sloped its beams.
4. to form with a slope or slant: to slope an embankment.
–noun
5. ground that has a natural incline, as the side of a hill.
6. inclination or slant, esp. downward or upward.
7. deviation from the horizontal or vertical.
8. an inclined surface.
9. Usually, slopes. hills, esp. foothills or bluffs: the slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro.
10. Mathematics.
a. the tangent of the angle between a given straight line and the x-axis of a system of Cartesian coordinates.
b. the derivative of the function whose graph is a given curve evaluated at a designated point.
11. Slang: Disparaging and Offensive. an Asian, esp. a Vietnamese.
—Idiom
12. slope off, Chiefly British Slang. to make one's way out slowly or furtively.
Origin:
1495–1505; aphetic var. of aslope; akin to slip 1

Related forms:
slop⋅ing⋅ly, adverb
slop⋅ing⋅ness, noun

Synonyms:
1. Slope, slant mean to incline away from a relatively straight surface or line used as a reference. To slope is to incline vertically in an oblique direction: The ground slopes (upward or downward) sharply here. To slant is to fall to one side, to lie obliquely to some line whether horizontal or perpendicular: The road slants off to the right.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To slope
slope   (slōp)   
v.   sloped, slop·ing, slopes

v.   intr.
  1. To diverge from the vertical or horizontal; incline: a roof that slopes. See Synonyms at slant.
  2. To move on a slant; ascend or descend: sloped down the trail.
v.   tr.
To cause to slope: sloped the path down the bank.
n.  
  1. An inclined line, surface, plane, position, or direction.
  2. A stretch of ground forming a natural or artificial incline: ski slopes.
    1. A deviation from the horizontal.
    2. The amount or degree of such deviation.
    3. The rate at which an ordinate of a point of a line on a coordinate plane changes with respect to a change in the abscissa.
    4. The tangent of the angle of inclination of a line, or the slope of the tangent line for a curve or surface.
  4. Mathematics
    1. The rate at which an ordinate of a point of a line on a coordinate plane changes with respect to a change in the abscissa.
    2. The tangent of the angle of inclination of a line, or the slope of the tangent line for a curve or surface.
  5. Offensive Slang Used as a disparaging term for a person of East Asian birth or descent.

[Probably from Middle English aslope, sloping.]
slop'er n., slop'ing·ly adv.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Slope

Slope\, n. The part of a continent descending toward, and draining to, a particular ocean; as, the Pacific slope.

Slope

Slope\, n. [Formed (like abode fr. abide) from OE. slipen. See Slip, v. i.]

1. An oblique direction; a line or direction including from a horizontal line or direction; also, sometimes, an inclination, as of one line or surface to another.

2. Any ground whose surface forms an angle with the plane of the horizon.

buildings the summit and slope of a hill. --Macaulay.

Under the slopes of Pisgah. --Deut. iv. 49. (Rev. Ver.).

Note: A slope, considered as descending, is a declivity; considered as ascending, an acclivity.

Slope of a plane (Geom.), the direction of the plane; as, parallel planes have the same slope.

Slope

Slope\, a. Sloping. "Down the slope hills." --Milton.

A bank not steep, but gently slope. --Bacon.

Slope

Slope\, adv. In a sloping manner. [Obs.] --Milton.

Slope

Slope\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Sloped; p. pr. & vb. n. Sloping.] To form with a slope; to give an oblique or slanting direction to; to direct obliquely; to incline; to slant; as, to slope the ground in a garden; to slope a piece of cloth in cutting a garment.

Slope

Slope\, v. i. 1. To take an oblique direction; to be at an angle with the plane of the horizon; to incline; as, the ground slopes.

2. To depart; to disappear suddenly. [Slang]
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : slope
Spanish: cuesta, pendiente,
German: die Neigung,
Japanese: 傾斜
More Translations »

slope  (v.)
1591, from earlier adj. meaning "slanting" (1502), probably from M.E. aslope (adv.) "on the incline" (1470), from O.E. *aslopen, pp. of aslupan "to slip away," from a- "away" + slupan "to slip" (see sleeve). The noun is first recorded 1611, from the verb. Derogatory slang meaning "Oriental person" is attested from 1948.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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