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

Nanuq didn’t like it either, and he loped off behind a low hill.

From Literature

I hunt up a few mice, collect them in my jowls, and lope back to the den.

From Literature

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

Related Words

• gallop
• trot