slope

American  

[slohp] / sloʊp /

verb (used without object)

• slopes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• sloped,
  past participle,  past
• sloping
  present participle

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.

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verb (used with object)

• slopes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• sloped,
  past participle,  past
• sloping
  present participle

1. to direct at a slant or inclination; incline from the horizontal or vertical.

   The sun sloped its beams.

2. to form with a slope or slant.

   to slope an embankment.

noun

• slopes
  plural

1. ground that has a natural incline, as the side of a hill.

2. inclination or slant, especially downward or upward.

3. deviation from the horizontal or vertical.

4. an inclined surface.

5. Usually slopes. hills, especially foothills or bluffs.

   the slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro.

6. Mathematics.

   1. the tangent of the angle between a given straight line and the x- axis of a system of Cartesian coordinates.

   2. the derivative of the function whose graph is a given curve evaluated at a designated point.

7. Slang: Extremely Disparaging and Offensive. a contemptuous term used to refer to a person of East Asian origin, especially a Vietnamese or other South Asian.

idioms

1. slope off, to make one's way out slowly or furtively.

slope British  

/ sləʊp /

verb

1. to lie or cause to lie at a slanting or oblique angle

2. (intr) (esp of natural features) to follow an inclined course

   many paths sloped down the hillside

3. (intr; foll by off, away, etc) to go furtively

4. (tr) military (formerly) to hold (a rifle) in the slope position (esp in the command slope arms )

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noun

1. an inclined portion of ground

2. (plural) hills or foothills

3. any inclined surface or line

4. the degree or amount of such inclination

5. maths

   1. (of a line) the tangent of the angle between the line and another line parallel to the x- axis

   2. the first derivative of the equation of a curve at a given point

6. (formerly) the position adopted for British military drill when the rifle is rested on the shoulder

7. slang a person from Southeast Asia, especially a Vietnamese

Sensitive Note

See slant-eyed.

Usage

What does slope mean? In mathematics, the slope (also called the gradient) of a line is a measurement of how steep the line is or how much of a slant it has. In math, a line is an object with no thickness that extends forever in both directions. In basic math, we assume lines to be perfectly straight, meaning they don’t curve or change directions to form angles. Take a piece of graph paper to create a Cartesian plane by drawing two perpendicular lines. These two lines are called the axes. The axis going sideways is the x-axis, and the axis going up and down is the y-axis. We use these axes to label where any point on the plane is located. You can then measure the slope of a line compared to the x-axis by using the Cartesian coordinates on your Cartesian plane.

Synonym Usage

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.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• sloper
  noun
• slopingness
  noun
• sloping
  adjective
• unsloped
  adjective
• unsloping
  adjective
• slopingly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• slopes
  plural

Participles

• sloping
  present
• sloped
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• slope
  simple
• slopes
  simple
• have sloped
  perfect
• has sloped
  perfect
• am sloping
  progressive
• are sloping
  progressive
• is sloping
  progressive
• have been sloping
  perfect progressive
• has been sloping
  perfect progressive

Past

• sloped
  simple
• had sloped
  perfect
• was sloping
  progressive
• were sloping
  progressive
• had been sloping
  perfect progressive

Future

• will slope
  simple
• will have sloped
  perfect
• will be sloping
  progressive
• will have been sloping
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of slope

First recorded in 1495–1505; aphetic variant of aslope; akin to slip ¹

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Explanation

If you find yourself on a slippery slope, watch out: you could be sliding down a hill. Land that is not level is called a slope. Slope can also be a verb, as in land that slopes down to sea level. Language experts believe the word slope came from the Middle English word aslope, an adverb that means “at an angle.” The word has a noun form you can use for something that is at an angle — on a slope — like a steep hill or the ramp in a parking garage. It also has a verb form that can be used to describe something that slants, like someone's signature with letters that slope to the left or an angled haircut that slopes to cover one eye.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

slope slopes sloped sloping

It’s a slippery slope that leads to some of the biggest financial scandals.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026

In my classroom, that means turning to the Bard to teach the most important lesson in accounting: recognizing, in the moment, when you are the one taking the first step down the slope.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026

In September, high tides and powerful wave activity from Hurricane Marie buffeted the San Clemente coastline, temporarily halting Pacific Surfliner and Metrolink service after more erosion and slope damage was spotted near the train tracks.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2026

A steep slope makes water move quickly, while a shallow slope produces slower flow.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 2, 2026

So Roz carefully picked her way up the slippery slope, while Brightbill fluttered along beside her.

From "The Wild Robot Escapes" by Peter Brown

ITHACA, N.Y.—On a drizzly Thursday, Cornell University students wandered into consulting recruitment sessions, hustled up the slopes to midterms and listened to a Pulitzer-winning fiction writer.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026

The loss of glacier ice can also destabilise mountain slopes and increase the risk of landslides in some places - which can lead to flash flooding in extreme cases, as seen in Nepal in August.

From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026

Researchers at the University of Montpellier's Laboratory of Geography and Land Planning have developed evacuation routes that account for slopes, obstacles, walking speeds, and potential bottlenecks.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 10, 2026

Wetlands, steep slopes, flood zones, contaminated soil, or any other number of issues could prevent this new home from meeting local standards.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 8, 2026

On a rocky mountain pass, on the southernmost slopes of Mount Belly, the witch-queen reined in her goat-drawn chariot and stopped and sniffed the chilly air.

From "Stardust" by Neil Gaiman

The vineyard for the domaine’s namesake wine is in the village of Vosne-Romanée, where vines grow on a gently sloped plot of less than 5 acres.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 31, 2026

Now that his youngest son had moved out, the 56-year-old retired home builder wanted to downsize from his 6-acre, sloped property to a 2,200 square-foot house in Hayden, Idaho, which he had built himself.

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 20, 2025

Other wider sections of the Radical Road would have a sloped earth embankment built to catch any rockfall.

From BBC ● Nov. 11, 2025

Take a sunset walk along the gently sloped, flower-scented streets above busy Sunset Boulevard in Brentwood — you will be immersed in a stillness broken only by birds chirping in the treetops.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2025

A vast meadow sloped down for at least a mile before flattening into another mile of wide green floor.

From "Pax" by Sara Pennypacker

The light, arid climate and mountains sloping into the sea reminded her of Lebanon.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 21, 2026

Designed by renowned architect Eero Saarinen and opened in 1962, the terminal has a dramatic, glass-walled facade with a sloping roofline that recalls a wingspan.

From Slate ● Aug. 18, 2026

Inside, the eye immediately travels upward, led by rows of slightly sloping, fluted, twisting columns that seem to soar to the heavens.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026

Also, the rest of the term structure is sloping upwards, and the futures are trading at a premium to VIX.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 23, 2026

All she could be certain of was that the terrain was still sloping down.

From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan

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