lope
Americanverb (used without object)
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to move or run with bounding steps, as a quadruped, or with a long, easy stride, as a person.
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to canter leisurely with a rather long, easy stride, as a horse.
verb (used with object)
noun
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the act or the gait of loping.
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a long, easy stride.
verb
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(intr) (of a person) to move or run with a long swinging stride
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(intr) (of four-legged animals) to run with a regular bounding movement
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to cause (a horse) to canter with a long easy stride or (of a horse) to canter in this manner
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of lope
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English verb lopen, loupen, laupen “to jump, leap,” from Old Norse hlaupa; see also leap, loup 2 ( def. )
Explanation
Some words are fun to say: lope is one of them. It's also fun to think about, as it means to move with a casual, striding gait. Imagine a horse cantering along with an easy lope. A pleasant image indeed. Before 1825, the meaning of lope was in the line of a leap or springy jump. This comes from the Old Norse word hlaupa, which sounds like its English meaning, "to leap." This is similar to the Old Dutch lopen, "to run," and the Old English hlēapan, "leap," as well as the Scots loup, all related to the modern meaning: a long, striding gait with a little bounce to it.
Vocabulary lists containing lope
Hot to Trot: Animal Ambulation
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Where the Red Fern Grows
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Touching Spirit Bear
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
But soon his sprint slows and his legs start to lope as his arms swing with less force.
From New York Times • Dec. 4, 2024
Bounding around the stage shirtless with a disconcerting lope that suggests something’s off with his hip, he simultaneously owns his ancientness and defies it.
From Los Angeles Times • May 22, 2023
We stroll, stride, plod, traipse, amble, saunter, shuffle, tiptoe, lumber, tromp, lope, strut and swagger.
From Scientific American • Nov. 5, 2022
Despite the double electrified fence, the scene looks almost primal as the apes lope like shadows through the lush, golden grass.
From Seattle Times • Nov. 22, 2018
Within the hour two men came down the road almost at a lope.
From "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
