lope

American  

[lohp] / loʊp /

verb (used without object)

• lopes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• loped,
  past participle,  past
• loping
  present participle

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)

• lopes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• loped,
  past participle,  past
• loping
  present participle

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

Derived Forms

• loper
  noun

Inflected Forms

Participles

• loping
  present
• loped
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• lope
  simple
• lopes
  simple
• have loped
  perfect
• has loped
  perfect
• am loping
  progressive
• are loping
  progressive
• is loping
  progressive
• have been loping
  perfect progressive
• has been loping
  perfect progressive

Past

• loped
  simple
• had loped
  perfect
• was loping
  progressive
• were loping
  progressive
• had been loping
  perfect progressive

Future

• will lope
  simple
• will have loped
  perfect
• will be loping
  progressive
• will have been loping
  perfect progressive

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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

lope lopes loped loping

The only time I remember them speaking is a goodbye as he turns his back to lope down a hallway.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 2, 2026

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

We stroll, stride, plod, traipse, amble, saunter, shuffle, tiptoe, lumber, tromp, lope, strut and swagger.

From Scientific American ● Nov. 5, 2022

The horse would lope to the fence promptly for some corn, while the mule, skittish and wild-eyed, hung back with a kind of pitiable, crazy longing that made you throw an ear right quick.

From Seattle Times ● Aug. 13, 2021

The dogs were still running at a lope, though we had come over seven miles, and I was full of them; my life was full of them.

From "Woodsong" by Gary Paulsen

In a wordless two-page spread, a dog lopes solemnly toward the pickle, trailed by a mournful earthworm.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026

The NWS has warned that severe weather could return later this week as a storm lopes into the Great Lakes region over Friday and Saturday.

From BBC ● Jan. 10, 2024

His dog Obie, a hound mix, lopes ahead, stopping to shove his snout under intriguing rocks and logs.

From Seattle Times ● Dec. 1, 2023

What endures from those days is the sense of motion: A creature lopes through incongruous environments, often entering a spaceship that descends, hovers and ascends again.

From Washington Post ● Oct. 4, 2022

Our teammates on the bench jump to their feet, cheering as my cousin lopes easily around the bases.

From "You Bring the Distant Near" by Mitali Perkins

But by the time Holiday had sprinted to the basket, Wembanyama had loped over, too.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 2, 2026

As Ewing thanked the students, then loped across the court toward a television interview, he took a long, needed swig from a water bottle.

From Washington Post ● Jan. 25, 2023

Then we waited a few more minutes while our kids loped back and forth between the hoops, not really communicating, before taking our charges home.

From Salon ● Aug. 27, 2022

The risk did not pay off - Russell ran wide at the second corner on his first attempt, put a wheel on the painted pit-exit line and loped into a slow spin.

From BBC ● Jun. 18, 2022

Some of the passengers rushing to get back on the train stopped to watch as Loomis loped over the trestle.

From "Cold Sassy Tree" by Olive Ann Burns

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

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 2, 2025

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

From BBC ● Jun. 16, 2025

A few times we came across a three-legged coyote, affectionately known by locals as Tripod, loping along the empty road.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 25, 2024

And they’re attracted to rhythmic thumps on the surface, so the Fremen — people who live in the Arrakis desert — walk in strange, loping, arrhythmic steps to avoid accidental detection.

From New York Times ● Mar. 6, 2024

With each loping step, the magic of the boots coursed through her body like lightning.

From "The Girl Who Drank the Moon" by Kelly Barnhill

Related Words

• gallop
• trot