: 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
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
Antonia Hitchens, New Yorker, 21 Apr. 2025
Mix course sand and organic material such as pine bark or leaf mold into the backfill soil and slope the soil up to the edges of the rootball.
—Brandee Gruener, Southern Living, 11 Apr. 2025
Latoya Gayle, People.com, 2 May 2025
The Dalarna region is Sweden at its best, with dense forests speckling the landscape, a web of foot trails, dramatic waterfalls, gentle slopes for hiking and skiing, and placid lakes, including one of the country’s largest, Lake Siljan.
—Jeanine Barone, Forbes.com, 1 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for slope
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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
Verb
In the garden, children played fetch with the Ambassador’s herding dog, who scurried up and down the sloping grass, underneath cherry trees in full bloom.
—Antonia Hitchens, New Yorker, 21 Apr. 2025
Mix course sand and organic material such as pine bark or leaf mold into the backfill soil and slope the soil up to the edges of the rootball.
—Brandee Gruener, Southern Living, 11 Apr. 2025
Noun
Heavy equipment was sent into the hole via a slope and walls had to be built to ensure the safety of rescue workers, the outlet added.
—Latoya Gayle, People.com, 2 May 2025
The Dalarna region is Sweden at its best, with dense forests speckling the landscape, a web of foot trails, dramatic waterfalls, gentle slopes for hiking and skiing, and placid lakes, including one of the country’s largest, Lake Siljan.
—Jeanine Barone, Forbes.com, 1 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for slope
Cite this Entry
“Slope.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/slope. Accessed 6 May. 2025.
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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