lope

[ lohp ]
See synonyms for: lopelopedloping on Thesaurus.com

verb (used without object),loped, lop·ing.
  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.

verb (used with object),loped, lop·ing.
  1. to cause to lope, as a horse.

noun
  1. the act or the gait of loping.

  2. a long, easy stride.

Origin of lope

1
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English verb lopen, loupen, laupen “to jump, leap,” from Old Norse hlaupa; see also leap, loup2

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use lope in a sentence

  • Still a-shiver at dawn, I saddled up and loped for the crest of the nearest divide to get the benefit of the first sun-rays.

    Raw Gold | Bertrand W. Sinclair
  • The little black monkey dropped from his tree and loped after the keeper, and the woods swallowed them all.

    The Belted Seas | Arthur Colton
  • When he fired the rabbit gave a jump that sent the snow flying and loped away across the orchard.

  • And Urson had already loped a couple of steps after the fleeting mutant, now halfway down the block.

    The Jewels of Aptor | Samuel R. Delany
  • Meanwhile from many points the destined warriors loped over the rolling landscape to the rendezvous.

    The Way of an Indian | Frederic Remington

British Dictionary definitions for lope

lope

/ (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

  1. to cause (a horse) to canter with a long easy stride or (of a horse) to canter in this manner

noun
  1. a long steady gait or stride

Origin of lope

1
C15: from Old Norse hlaupa to leap; compare Middle Dutch lopen to run

Derived forms of lope

  • loper, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012