lope
Americanverb (used without object)
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to move or run with bounding steps, as a quadruped, or with a long, easy stride, as a person.
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to canter leisurely with a rather long, easy stride, as a horse.
verb (used with object)
noun
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the act or the gait of loping.
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a long, easy stride.
verb
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(intr) (of a person) to move or run with a long swinging stride
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(intr) (of four-legged animals) to run with a regular bounding movement
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to cause (a horse) to canter with a long easy stride or (of a horse) to canter in this manner
noun
Other Word Forms
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.
Vocabulary lists containing lope
Hot to Trot: Animal Ambulation
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Where the Red Fern Grows
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Touching Spirit Bear
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
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
It begins with “The 1,” a stoic look back at a fizzled romance, which moves at a lope, nudged along by ringing piano chords and one of the album’s sprightlier beats.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 24, 2020
If you’ve ridden a horse, think lope gait.
From Slate • Mar. 25, 2020
I lope away from them, checking over my shoulders every few strides.
From "Wayward Creatures" by Dayna Lorentz
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
