lope

[lohp]

See more synonyms for lope on Thesaurus.com

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

to move or run with bounding steps, as a quadruped, or with a long, easy stride, as a person.
to canter leisurely with a rather long, easy stride, as a horse.

verb (used with object), loped, lop·ing.

to cause to lope, as a horse.

noun

the act or the gait of loping.
a long, easy stride.

Origin of lope

1375–1425; late Middle English < Dutch lopen to run, cognate with Old English hlēapan to leap

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for loped

gallop, trot, canter, run, bound

Examples from the Web for loped

Historical Examples of loped

The two Indians wheeled their ponies and loped after the others.
Bloom of Cactus
Robert Ames Bennet
With that the Indian rose, turned his back on them and loped into the forest.
Grace Harlowe's Overland Riders in the Great North Woods
Jessie Graham Flower
Across the lawn he loped, and little François, anxious at the window, spied him.
Mistress Anne
Temple Bailey
They mounted, swung their horses and loped off toward the bridge across the creek.
Rimrock Trail
J. Allan Dunn
For half an hour they loped over the prairie without speech.
Two on the Trail
Hulbert Footner

British Dictionary definitions for loped

lope

verb

(intr) (of a person) to move or run with a long swinging stride
(intr) (of four-legged animals) to run with a regular bounding movement
to cause (a horse) to canter with a long easy stride or (of a horse) to canter in this manner

noun

a long steady gait or stride

Derived Formsloper, noun

Word Origin for lope

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

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

Word Origin and History for loped

lope

"to run with long strides," early 15c.; earlier "to leap, jump, spring" (c.1300), from Old Norse hlaupa "to run, leap," from Proto-Germanic *khlaupan (see leap (v.)). Related: Loped; loping. The noun meaning "a jump, a leap" is from late 14c.; sense of "long, bounding stride" is from 1809.