slope
UK/sləʊp//sloʊp/
slope noun: a surface that either inclines or declines in a regular manner from the perspective of an observer.
Noun
slope (countable and uncountable, plural slopes)
- A surface that either inclines or declines in a regular manner from the perspective of an observer.
- the slope
- She looked down a slope, needing to squint for the sunlight, onto a vast sprawl of houses which had grown up all together, like a well-tended crop, from the dull brown earth...Thomas Pynchon, The Crying of Lot 49
- An area of ground that tends evenly upward or downward.
- I had to climb a small slope to get to the site.
- a steep slope
- The degree to which a surface tends upward or downward.
- The road has a very sharp downward slope at that point.
- The ratio of the vertical and horizontal distances between two points lying on the line.
- The slope of this line is 0.5
- The slope of the line tangent to the curve at the given point.
- The slope of a parabola increases linearly with x.
- 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).
- The slope of an asphalt shingle roof system should be 4:12 or greater.
- a concept or idea which suggests a type of oblique or accelerating progression
- The habit of lying can quickly become a slippery slope.
- Not just confined to biking, once you loose that confidence or get knocked back either physically or mentally, it's a hard slope to climb back up...Dr. Ruth Anderson, The Cycling Mind
- An East or Southeast Asian person, especially one that is Chinese.
- A hasty departure.
- "I did a slope," acknowledged the clerk frankly. "I broke all the records down that passage, I bet you. You'll laugh, I dare say, and think you would have stood, but you don't know what it was like. […]"1923, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], “(please specify the page)”, in The Eyes of Max Carrados, London: Grant Richards, →OCLC
Verb
slope (third-person singular simple present slopes, present participle sloping, simple past and past participle sloped)
- To tend steadily upward or downward.
- The road slopes sharply down at that point.
- 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, →OCLC
- To form with a slope; to give an oblique or slanting direction to; to incline or slant.
- to slope the ground in a garden; to slope a piece of cloth in cutting a garment
- To try to move surreptitiously.
- I sloped in through the back door, hoping my boss wouldn't see me.
- She watched him disappear out of sight, before sloping back to her room.2009 October 29, David Walliams [pseudonym; David Edward Williams], Mr Stink, London: HarperCollins Children’s Books, →ISBN
- To hold a rifle at a slope with forearm perpendicular to the body in front holding the butt, the rifle resting on the shoulder.
- The order was given to "slope arms".
Adjective
slope (comparative more slope, superlative most slope)
- Sloping.
- A bank not steep, but gently slope.1625, Francis [Bacon], “Of Gardens”, in The Essayes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret, →OCLC
- Down the slope hills.1667, John Milton, “Book IV”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished...
Adverb
slope (comparative more slope, superlative most slope)
- slopingly
- 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 sun1667, John Milton, “(please specify the page number)”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker...
- So promis'd he; and Uriel to his charge
slope meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
slope in Hindi
- area of ground that tends evenly upward or downward
- ढाल ḍhāl
slope in Tamil
- சரிவு, இறக்கம், சாய்வு
slope in Marathi
- area of ground that tends evenly upward or downward
- उतार utār
slope in Urdu
- ڈھال, ڈھلان
More languagesFewer languages
- slope in Bengali
- ঢাল, ঢল, ঢালু স্থান, খাড়াই
- slope in Telugu
- వాలు vālu
- slope in Malayalam
- ചരിവ് carivŭ, തടം taṭaṁ
- slope in Kannada
- ಇಳಿಜಾರು ಪ್ರದೇಶ, ಏರುನೆಲ, ಇಳಿಜಾರು, ಓಟ
- slope in Punjabi
- ਢਲਾਨ
- slope in Gujarati
- ઢોળાવ, ઢોળાવો, ઢાળ
- slope in Odia
- କୂଳ kuḷa
- slope in Sanskrit
- तट taṭa, वप्र vapra, मेखला mékhalā
- slope in Nepali
- ढलान
- slope in Tagalog
- dalisdis, libis, gulod, hilig
- slope in Arabic
- مُنْحَدَر munḥadar, مَيْل mayl
- slope in Malay
- lereng, cerun
- slope in Indonesian
- lereng, kemiringan, sipit, mata sipit
Examples of slope in a sentence
- The engine of the old car stuttered going up the slope.
- Why don't you try getting your feet wet on the beginner slopes.
- The miners hurriedly prepared for winter as the termination dust settled on the slopes above them.
Synonyms of slope
1 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Forms of slope
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | slopes |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | slopes |
| present participle | sloping |
| past participle | sloped |
| past | sloped |
| Adjective | |
| comparative | more slope |
| superlative | most slope |
| Adverb | |
| comparative | more slope |
| superlative | most slope |
Origin of slope
From aslope (adjective, adverb).
Words formed from slope
- backslope
- beginner slope
- bunny slope
- continental slope
- counterslope
- downslope
- footslope
- foreslope
- glide slope
- hillslope
- interslope
- low-slope roof
- midslope
- mountainslope
- North Slope Borough
- nursery slope
- palaeoslope
- paleoslope
- postslope
- recurrent slope linea
- roadslope
- sideslope
- ski slope
- ski-slope nose
- ski slope nose
- slippery slope
- slope bunny
- Slope County
- slope dragonet
- slope field
- slopehead
- slopelike
- slopeness
- slope off
- sloper
- slopeside
- slopestyle
- slopewash
- slopeways
- slopewise
- sloping
- slopy
- South Western Slopes
- South West Slopes
- steep-slope roof
- The Slopes
- toeslope
- underslope
- upslope
Phrases with slope
Words that rhyme with slope
Questions about slope
- What does slope mean?
- Slope means a surface that either inclines or declines in a regular manner from the perspective of an observer.
- What is slope in Hindi?
- Slope in Hindi is ढाल (ḍhāl). See Slope meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is slope?
- Slope can be a noun, a verb, an adjective or an adverb.
- How do you pronounce slope?
- Slope is pronounced /sloʊp/ (US).
- What is the plural of slope?
- The plural of slope is slopes.
Words near slope in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: slope (page history and authors); slope (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); slope (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); slope (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ചരിവ് (Malayalam) (page history and authors); slope (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); slope (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); slope (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); କୂଳ (Odia) (page history and authors); तट (Sanskrit) (page history and authors); slope (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-slope.ogg.
Cite this entry: “slope.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/slope. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.