slope

[slohp] /sloʊp/
verb (used without object), sloped, sloping.
1.
to have or take an inclined or oblique direction or angle considered with reference to a vertical or horizontal plane; slant.
2.
to move at an inclination or obliquely:
They sloped gradually westward.
verb (used with object), sloped, sloping.
3.
to direct at a slant or inclination; incline from the horizontal or vertical:
The sun sloped its beams.
4.
to form with a slope or slant:
to slope an embankment.
noun
5.
ground that has a natural incline, as the side of a hill.
6.
inclination or slant, especially downward or upward.
7.
deviation from the horizontal or vertical.
8.
an inclined surface.
9.
Usually, slopes. hills, especially foothills or bluffs:
the slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro.
10.
Mathematics.
  1. the tangent of the angle between a given straight line and the x- axis of a system of Cartesian coordinates.
  2. the derivative of the function whose graph is a given curve evaluated at a designated point.
11.
Slang: Disparaging and Offensive. an Asian, especially a Vietnamese.
Idioms
12.
slope off, Chiefly British Slang. to make one's way out slowly or furtively.
Origin
1495-1505; aphetic variant of aslope; akin to slip1
Related forms
slopingly, adverb
slopingness, noun
unsloped, adjective
unsloping, adjective
Synonyms
1. Slope, slant mean to incline away from a relatively straight surface or line used as a reference. To slope is to incline vertically in an oblique direction: The ground slopes (upward or downward ) sharply here. To slant is to fall to one side, to lie obliquely to some line whether horizontal or perpendicular: The road slants off to the right.
Examples from the web for sloping
  • The transition from land to sea begins at the continental shelf, a gently sloping, submerged extension of the continent.
  • My tiny bedroom with its sloping ceilings and solitary window facing north.
  • And right around the river, sloping gently down to the lakeshore, was a floodplain of silt and clay.
  • Geologic formations indicate that the landscape during that era was a gentle, sloping plain.
  • Outside his neat brick house, a rain gauge rises at the edge of a sloping driveway.
  • Since it's heeled onto one side, they'll have to learn how to walk on walls and scale the sloping, perilous decks.
  • There were many fundraisers in their sloping, running-down-to-the-swimming pool garden.
  • Because the structure was not designed to support the added strain imposed by a sloping foundation, it might well collapse.
  • The air rushes out of tiny, millimeter-long slots that run along the circular frame and flows down a gently sloping ramp.
  • Ensure employees do not enter trenches deeper than five feet without the benefit of shoring, benching, or sloping.
British Dictionary definitions for sloping

slope

/sləʊp/
verb
1.
to lie or cause to lie at a slanting or oblique angle
2.
(intransitive) (esp of natural features) to follow an inclined course: many paths sloped down the hillside
3.
(intransitive; foll by off, away, etc) to go furtively
4.
(transitive) (military) (formerly) to hold (a rifle) in the slope position (esp in the command slope arms)
noun
5.
an inclined portion of ground
6.
(pl) hills or foothills
7.
any inclined surface or line
8.
the degree or amount of such inclination
9.
(maths)
  1. (of a line) the tangent of the angle between the line and another line parallel to the x-axis
  2. the first derivative of the equation of a curve at a given point
10.
(formerly) the position adopted for British military drill when the rifle is rested on the shoulder
11.
(US, slang, derogatory) a person from Southeast Asia, especially a Vietnamese
Derived Forms
sloper, noun
sloping, adjective
slopingly, adverb
slopingness, noun
Word Origin
C15: short for aslope, perhaps from the past participle of Old English āslūpan to slip away, from slūpan to slip
Word Origin and History for sloping

slope

v.

1590s, "go in an oblique direction," from earlier adjective meaning "slanting" (c.1500), probably from Middle English aslope (adv.) "on the incline" (late 15c.), from Old English *aslopen, past participle of aslupan "to slip away," from a- "away" + slupan "to slip" (see sleeve). From 1709 as "to be in a slanting position;" transitive sense "place in a slanting position" is from c.1600. Related: Sloped; sloping.

n.

1610s, "inclination," from slope (v.). Meaning "an incline, a slant (of ground)" is from 1620s. Derogatory slang meaning "Oriental person" is attested from 1948.

Slang definitions & phrases for sloping

slope 1

verb
  1. (also slope out) To run away; depart; lam, skedaddle (1830+)
  2. To escape from jail (1940s+ Underworld & hoboes)

[perhaps fr Dutch sloop, ''sneaked away'']


slope 2

noun

An Asian; dink, gook

[Vietnam War armed forces; fr the apparent slanting of eyes caused by the typical epicanthic fold of Asian peoples]