Definition of "slope"

slope

/sloʊp/

noun
countable and uncountable, plural slopes
1. An area of ground that tends evenly upward or downward.
2. The degree to which a surface tends upward or downward.
3. (mathematics) The ratio of the vertical and horizontal distances between two points on a line; zero if the line is horizontal, undefined if it is vertical.
4. (mathematics) The slope of the line tangent to a curve at a given point.
5. The angle a roof surface makes with the horizontal, expressed as a ratio of the units of vertical rise to the units of horizontal length (sometimes referred to as run).
6. (vulgar, offensive, ethnic slur) A person of Chinese or other East Asian descent.
verb
third-person singular simple present slopes, present participle sloping, simple past and past participle sloped
1. (intransitive) To tend steadily upward or downward.
  Quotations
  If the afternoon was fine they strolled together in the park, very slowly, and with pauses to draw breath wherever the ground sloped upward. The slightest effort made the patient cough.
  1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XXIII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company
  St. Lawrence Station is very prettily situated, high cliffs on the left, and the lush vegetation of the Undercliff sloping down to the sea on the right.
  1946 July and August, K. Westcott Jones, “Isle of Wight Central Railway—2”, in Railway Magazine, page 244
2. (transitive) To form with a slope; to give an oblique or slanting direction to; to incline or slant.
3. (UK, colloquial, usually followed by a preposition) To try to move surreptitiously.
  Quotations
  She watched him disappear out of sight, before sloping back to her room.
  2009, David Walliams, Mr Stink
4. (military) To hold a rifle at a slope with forearm perpendicular to the body in front holding the butt, the rifle resting on the shoulder.
adjective
comparative more slope, superlative most slope
1. (obsolete) Sloping.
  Quotations
  A bank not steep, but gently slope.
  1625, Francis [Bacon], “Of Gardens”, in The Essayes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret
  Down the slope hills.
  1667, John Milton, “Book IV”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […]; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873,
adverb
comparative more slope, superlative most slope
1. (obsolete) slopingly
  Quotations
  So promis'd he; and Uriel to his charge Return'd on that bright beam , whose point now rais'd , Bore him slope downward to the sun
  1667, John Milton, “(please specify the book number)”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […]; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873,

Definition of "slope"

slope

noun

verb

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adjective

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adverb

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