lope

American  

[lohp] / loʊp /

verb (used without object)

loped, loping

1. to move or run with bounding steps, as a quadruped, or with a long, easy stride, as a person.

2. to canter leisurely with a rather long, easy stride, as a horse.

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verb (used with object)

loped, loping

1. to cause to lope, as a horse.

noun

1. the act or the gait of loping.

2. a long, easy stride.

lope British  

/ ləʊp /

verb

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

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noun

1. a long steady gait or stride

Other Word Forms

• loper noun

Etymology

Origin of lope

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English verb lopen, loupen, laupen “to jump, leap,” from Old Norse hlaupa; leap, loup ² ( def. )

Example Sentences

Alexander’s stiff-backed schoolboy posture gradually altered into a light-footed loping stride.

From Literature

And although his style looks easy, like he’s loping to the library, it’s profoundly efficient.

From The Wall Street Journal

Adam Wharton is surely an England regular in the making, the loping socks-down style not disguising an elegant, competitive midfield operator of the highest order.

From BBC

His long, loping stride ratcheted up in rhythm over the final two laps, squeezing lungs and fraying rivals' form behind him.

From BBC

It was Wayne — America’s biggest movie star, the self-reliant enforcer, the loping lawman who set the world to rights by virtue of his unbending fortitude.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• gallop
• trot