: that slants : sloping
—often used in combination
slope-sided
sloped; sloping
1
: to take an oblique course
2
: to lie or fall in a slant : incline
: to cause to incline or slant
sloper
noun
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
Synonyms
Examples of slope in a Sentence
Verb
His handwriting slopes to the left.
they sloped our new driveway too steeply and now my car scrapes bottom whenever I back out onto the street
Noun
They climbed the steep slope.
What is the angle of the slope?
You can adjust the slope of the ramp.
a slope of 30 degrees
Recent Examples on the Web
Pilar Guzmán, Travel + Leisure, 19 Mar. 2023
Below, Vogue tracks the most noteworthy openings, from restaurants, to stores, to post-slope hotspots.
—Elise Taylor, Vogue, 26 Nov. 2021
In an interview in September, Friedman said that installing a mid-slope retaining wall downhill from the Georges’ building would cost $5 million.
—Steven Litt, cleveland, 8 Nov. 2021
Friedman said that the new geotechnical studies show that in order to save the building, the port would have to spend $5 million to install a mid-slope retaining wall.
—Steven Litt, cleveland, 9 Sep. 2021
Eleni N. Gage, Travel + Leisure, 1 Apr. 2024
City officials confirmed that word of mouth helped grow the camp, which sits on environmentally sensitive oak woodland grounds that slope down to a creek.
—Hailey Branson-Potts, Los Angeles Times, 28 Feb. 2024
Leave your bike outside and meander through the sloping hills covered in stubby graves, statues of veiled angels, and grand mausoleums.
—Francesca Carington, Condé Nast Traveler, 18 Jan. 2024
Orienting the addition toward the back of the hillside lot would take advantage of the scenery — the yard dramatically slopes downward to a small section of Piney Branch Stream.
—Michelle Brunner, Washington Post, 23 Mar. 2024
The central summit area is marked by several elevated mesas forming an arc, reaching a regional high and sloping downhill away from the summit area.
—Michael Dorgan, Fox News, 15 Mar. 2024
The land slopes down from that house with a series of broad grassy terraces embellished by long stretches of stone and brick balustrade atop stone ramparts.
—Mark David, Robb Report, 22 Mar. 2024
The 19-acre vineyard will gently slope upwards, evoking the rolling Tuscan hills in the distance.
—Olivia Morelli, Condé Nast Traveler, 22 Feb. 2024
Additionally, the terrain around the lakes often slopes toward the water, which is ideal for drainage.
—Hilary Howard, New York Times, 22 Feb. 2024
Bob Spear, Charlotte Observer, 14 Apr. 2024
Yet the fact remains that Lamarr, like Ava Gardner or Gene Tierney—or Delon—is stuck on the lower slopes of Mount Olympus.
—Anthony Lane, The New Yorker, 11 Apr. 2024
The 7-mile-long glacier, which drains the slopes of the Rampart Ridge, is now called Matataua, after a nearby mountain peak.
—David Kushner, WIRED, 4 Apr. 2024
The avalanche began around 2 p.m. local time off the slopes of Riffelberg by the Swiss Alpine ski resort of Zermatt, according to a French-language press release from police in the Valais canton.
—Abigail Adams, Peoplemag, 2 Apr. 2024
But Barth’s most memorable writing remains the stuff that works on both levels: the gently rising and falling slopes of narrative and the zany mirror maze of self-reflexivity.
—Dave Kim, New York Times, 2 Apr. 2024
But for the full 360 bean-to-brew, ramble the lower slopes of Agua Volcano for an immersive introduction to Guatemalan coffee with the González family who tend 30,000 arabica coffee plants followed by a grinding class and tasting at their home.
—Claire Boobbyer, Condé Nast Traveler, 4 Apr. 2024
Both the Case-Shiller and the FHFA Home Price Indexes are displaying steep negative slopes with the FHFA Index already in negative territory.
—Robert Barone, Forbes, 30 Mar. 2024
The accuracy of these surveys can vary, as people tend to avoid areas that are unsafe to walk through, including steep slopes and where garbage is actively being dumped, according to the study.
—Rachel Ramirez, CNN, 28 Mar. 2024
Adjective
In the Dolomites, the pleasures of post-slope relaxing are simply woven into the culture.
—Pilar Guzmán, Travel + Leisure, 19 Mar. 2023
Below, Vogue tracks the most noteworthy openings, from restaurants, to stores, to post-slope hotspots.
—Elise Taylor, Vogue, 26 Nov. 2021
In an interview in September, Friedman said that installing a mid-slope retaining wall downhill from the Georges’ building would cost $5 million.
—Steven Litt, cleveland, 8 Nov. 2021
Friedman said that the new geotechnical studies show that in order to save the building, the port would have to spend $5 million to install a mid-slope retaining wall.
—Steven Litt, cleveland, 9 Sep. 2021
Verb
Where to Stay on Crete With picturesque olive groves sloping down to sandy beaches, Elounda has become something of a Cretan Riviera.
—Eleni N. Gage, Travel + Leisure, 1 Apr. 2024
City officials confirmed that word of mouth helped grow the camp, which sits on environmentally sensitive oak woodland grounds that slope down to a creek.
—Hailey Branson-Potts, Los Angeles Times, 28 Feb. 2024
Leave your bike outside and meander through the sloping hills covered in stubby graves, statues of veiled angels, and grand mausoleums.
—Francesca Carington, Condé Nast Traveler, 18 Jan. 2024
Orienting the addition toward the back of the hillside lot would take advantage of the scenery — the yard dramatically slopes downward to a small section of Piney Branch Stream.
—Michelle Brunner, Washington Post, 23 Mar. 2024
The central summit area is marked by several elevated mesas forming an arc, reaching a regional high and sloping downhill away from the summit area.
—Michael Dorgan, Fox News, 15 Mar. 2024
The land slopes down from that house with a series of broad grassy terraces embellished by long stretches of stone and brick balustrade atop stone ramparts.
—Mark David, Robb Report, 22 Mar. 2024
The 19-acre vineyard will gently slope upwards, evoking the rolling Tuscan hills in the distance.
—Olivia Morelli, Condé Nast Traveler, 22 Feb. 2024
Additionally, the terrain around the lakes often slopes toward the water, which is ideal for drainage.
—Hilary Howard, New York Times, 22 Feb. 2024
Noun
His drive, in fact, had missed the trees, rolled up the slope toward the green before coming back a few yards.
—Bob Spear, Charlotte Observer, 14 Apr. 2024
Yet the fact remains that Lamarr, like Ava Gardner or Gene Tierney—or Delon—is stuck on the lower slopes of Mount Olympus.
—Anthony Lane, The New Yorker, 11 Apr. 2024
The 7-mile-long glacier, which drains the slopes of the Rampart Ridge, is now called Matataua, after a nearby mountain peak.
—David Kushner, WIRED, 4 Apr. 2024
The avalanche began around 2 p.m. local time off the slopes of Riffelberg by the Swiss Alpine ski resort of Zermatt, according to a French-language press release from police in the Valais canton.
—Abigail Adams, Peoplemag, 2 Apr. 2024
But Barth’s most memorable writing remains the stuff that works on both levels: the gently rising and falling slopes of narrative and the zany mirror maze of self-reflexivity.
—Dave Kim, New York Times, 2 Apr. 2024
But for the full 360 bean-to-brew, ramble the lower slopes of Agua Volcano for an immersive introduction to Guatemalan coffee with the González family who tend 30,000 arabica coffee plants followed by a grinding class and tasting at their home.
—Claire Boobbyer, Condé Nast Traveler, 4 Apr. 2024
Both the Case-Shiller and the FHFA Home Price Indexes are displaying steep negative slopes with the FHFA Index already in negative territory.
—Robert Barone, Forbes, 30 Mar. 2024
The accuracy of these surveys can vary, as people tend to avoid areas that are unsafe to walk through, including steep slopes and where garbage is actively being dumped, according to the study.
—Rachel Ramirez, CNN, 28 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'slope.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near slope
Cite this Entry
“Slope.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/slope. Accessed 25 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
slope
2 of 3 verb
sloped; sloping
: to take a slanting direction : give a slant to : incline
sloper
noun
slope
3 of 3 noun1
: ground that forms a natural or artificial incline
2
: upward or downward slant or degree of slant
3
: the ratio of the change in a vertical direction to the change in a horizontal direction between any two points on the graph of a straight line
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