UK:**UK and possibly other pronunciationsUK and possibly other pronunciations/ˈsləʊp/US:USA pronunciation: IPA and respellingUSA pronunciation: IPA/sloʊp/ ,USA pronunciation: respelling(slōp)
to have or take an inclined or oblique direction or angle considered with reference to a vertical or horizontal plane; slant.
to move at an inclination or obliquely:They sloped gradually westward.
v.t.
to direct at a slant or inclination; incline from the horizontal or vertical:The sun sloped its beams.
to form with a slope or slant:to slope an embankment.
British Termsslope off, [Chiefly Brit. Slang.] to make one's way out slowly or furtively.
n.
ground that has a natural incline, as the side of a hill.
inclination or slant, esp. downward or upward.
deviation from the horizontal or vertical.
an inclined surface.
Usually, slopes. hills, esp. foothills or bluffs:the slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro.
Mathematics
the tangent of the angle between a given straight line and the x- axis of a system of Cartesian coordinates.
the derivative of the function whose graph is a given curve evaluated at a designated point.
Slang Terms(disparaging and offensive). an Asian, esp. a Vietnamese.
1495–1505; aphetic variant of aslope; akin to slip1
slop′ing•ly, adv. slop′ing•ness, n.
1.Slope,slant mean to incline away from a relatively straight surface or line used as a reference. Toslope is to incline vertically in an oblique direction:The ground slopes(upward or downward) sharply here.Toslant is to fall to one side, to lie obliquely to some line whether horizontal or perpendicular:The road slants off to the right.
to lie or cause to lie at a slanting or oblique angle
(intransitive) (esp of natural features) to follow an inclined course: many paths sloped down the hillside
(intransitive; followed by off, away, etc) to go furtively
(transitive) (formerly) to hold (a rifle) in the slope position (esp in the command slope arms)
n
an inclined portion of ground
(plural) hills or foothills
any inclined surface or line
the degree or amount of such inclination
(of a line) the tangent of the angle between the line and another line parallel to the x-axis
(formerly) the position adopted for British military drill when the rifle is rested on the shoulder
Etymology: 15th Century: short for aslope, perhaps from the past participle of Old English āslūpan to slip away, from slūpan to slipˈslopernˈslopingadj
'slope' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):