slope

¹slope

adjective \ˈslōp\

Definition of SLOPE

: that slants : sloping —often used in combination <slope-sided>

Origin of SLOPE

Middle English sloop, probably from aslope, adverb, at an angle

First Known Use: 15th century

Rhymes with SLOPE

cope, coup, dope, grope, hope, lope, mope, nope, ope, pope, rope, scop, scope, soap, stope, taupe, tope, trope

²slope

verb

slopedslop·ing

Definition of SLOPE

intransitive verb

1

: to take an oblique course

2

: to lie or fall in a slant : incline

3

: go, travel <slopes off into the night — Wolcott Gibbs>

transitive verb

: to cause to incline or slant

— slop·er noun

Examples of SLOPE

1. His handwriting slopes to the left.
2. <they sloped our new driveway too steeply and now my car scrapes bottom whenever I back out onto the street>

First Known Use of SLOPE

1591

Related to SLOPE

Synonyms

angle, cant, cock, heel, incline, list, pitch, slant, lean, tilt, tip

Related Words

bank; bend, deviate, swerve, veer; decline, descend, recline, retreat

Near Antonyms

even, flatten, level, straighten

³slope

noun

Definition of SLOPE

1

: ground that forms a natural or artificial incline

2

: upward or downward slant or inclination or degree of slant

3

: the part of a continent draining to a particular ocean <Alaska's North Slope>

4

a : the tangent of the angle made by a straight line with the x-axis

b : the slope of the line tangent to a plane curve at a point

Examples of SLOPE

1. They climbed the steep slope.
2. What is the angle of the slope?
3. You can adjust the slope of the ramp.
4. a slope of 30 degrees

First Known Use of SLOPE

circa 1568

Related to SLOPE

Synonyms

cant, diagonal, grade, gradient, inclination, incline, lean, pitch, rake, slant, tilt, upgrade

Related Words

ascent, bank, climb, rise

Near Antonyms

declension, declination, decline, declivity, descent, dip, downgrade, fall, hang, hanging, receding

Other Geology Terms

anthracite, boulder, cwm, erratic, igneous, intrusive, mesa, sedimentary, silt, swale

slope

noun    (Concise Encyclopedia)

Numerical measure of a line's inclination relative to the horizontal. In analytic geometry, the slope of any line, ray, or line segment is the ratio of the vertical to the horizontal distance between any two points on it (“slope equals rise over run”). In differential calculus, the slope of a line tangent to the graph of a function is given by that function's derivative and represents the instantaneous rate of change of the function with respect to change in the independent variable. In the graph of a position function (representing the distance traveled by an object plotted against elapsed time), the slope of a tangent line represents the object's instantaneous velocity.