slope

American  

[slohp] / sloʊp /

verb (used without object)

sloped, sloping

1. to have or take an inclined or oblique direction or angle considered with reference to a vertical or horizontal plane; slant.

2. to move at an inclination or obliquely.

   They sloped gradually westward.

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verb (used with object)

sloped, sloping

1. to direct at a slant or inclination; incline from the horizontal or vertical.

   The sun sloped its beams.

2. to form with a slope or slant.

   to slope an embankment.

noun

1. ground that has a natural incline, as the side of a hill.

2. inclination or slant, especially downward or upward.

3. deviation from the horizontal or vertical.

4. an inclined surface.

5. Usually slopes. hills, especially foothills or bluffs.

   the slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro.

6. Mathematics.

   1. the tangent of the angle between a given straight line and the x- axis of a system of Cartesian coordinates.

   2. the derivative of the function whose graph is a given curve evaluated at a designated point.

7. Slang: Extremely Disparaging and Offensive. a contemptuous term used to refer to a person of East Asian origin, especially a Vietnamese or other South Asian.

idioms

1. slope off, to make one's way out slowly or furtively.

slope British  

/ sləʊp /

verb

1. to lie or cause to lie at a slanting or oblique angle

2. (intr) (esp of natural features) to follow an inclined course

   many paths sloped down the hillside

3. (intr; foll by off, away, etc) to go furtively

4. (tr) military (formerly) to hold (a rifle) in the slope position (esp in the command slope arms )

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noun

1. an inclined portion of ground

2. (plural) hills or foothills

3. any inclined surface or line

4. the degree or amount of such inclination

5. maths

   1. (of a line) the tangent of the angle between the line and another line parallel to the x- axis

   2. the first derivative of the equation of a curve at a given point

6. (formerly) the position adopted for British military drill when the rifle is rested on the shoulder

7. slang a person from Southeast Asia, especially a Vietnamese

Sensitive Note

See slant-eyed.

Usage

What does slope mean? In mathematics, the slope (also called the gradient) of a line is a measurement of how steep the line is or how much of a slant it has.In math, a line is an object with no thickness that extends forever in both directions. In basic math, we assume lines to be perfectly straight, meaning they don’t curve or change directions to form angles.Take a piece of graph paper to create a Cartesian plane by drawing two perpendicular lines. These two lines are called the axes. The axis going sideways is the x-axis, and the axis going up and down is the y-axis. We use these axes to label where any point on the plane is located. You can then measure the slope of a line compared to the x-axis by using the Cartesian coordinates on your Cartesian plane.

Related Words

Slope, slant mean to incline away from a relatively straight surface or line used as a reference. To slope is to incline vertically in an oblique direction: The ground slopes ( upward or downward ) sharply here. To slant is to fall to one side, to lie obliquely to some line whether horizontal or perpendicular: The road slants off to the right.

Other Word Forms

• sloper noun
• sloping adjective
• slopingly adverb
• slopingness noun
• unsloped adjective
• unsloping adjective

Etymology

Origin of slope

First recorded in 1495–1505; aphetic variant of aslope; akin to slip ¹

Example Sentences

For the superrich, private bankers or lawyers might fly to vacation homes to facilitate sit-downs or kick-start a financial conversation on the ski slopes or at the lake house.

From The Wall Street Journal

Duane sighed, looking up a gentle slope densely dotted in puffs of white hair balls that swayed in the breeze.

From Literature

Here and there on the long sloping hillside, milky white splotches stood out like spilt buckets of milk in the deep green.

From Literature

The avalanche occurred as the group of 15 was trying to leave the remote Frog Lake huts in a blizzard beneath avalanche-prone slopes.

From Los Angeles Times

Away from the slopes, heavy snow and high winds have increased the avalanche risk on some of Scotland's highest mountains.

From BBC

Related Words

• hill
• ramp
• shelf