slope
English
[edit]
Etymology
[edit]From aslope (adjective, adverb).
Pronunciation
[edit]- (General American) IPA(key): /sloʊp/
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /sləʊp/
Audio (US): (file) - Rhymes: -əʊp
Noun
[edit]
slope (countable and uncountable, plural slopes)
- 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.
- (mathematics, of a line, with respect to a fixed coordinate system) The ratio of the vertical and horizontal distances between two points lying on the line.
- The slope of this line is 0.5
- (mathematics, of a curve at a given point; sometimes proscribed, see Usage notes) 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.
- (vulgar, offensive, ethnic slur) A person of Chinese or other East Asian descent.
Usage notes
[edit]- In mathematical contexts, lines that are vertical (with respect to a given coordinate system) are said to either have infinite slope, or to have their slope undefined.
- While common in pre-university level mathematics and in introductory calculus, the use of slope to refer to the slope of a tangent line of a curve is proscribed in higher mathematics, where application is restricted to lines.
Synonyms
[edit]- (area of ground that tends evenly upward or downward): bank, embankment, gradient, hill, incline
- (degree to which a surface tends upward or downward): gradient
- (mathematics): first derivative, gradient
- (offensive: Chinese person): Chinaman, Chink
Translations
[edit]area of ground that tends evenly upward or downward
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degree to which a surface tends upward or downward
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mathematics
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math: slope of the line tangent to a curve at a given point
angle of a roof surface
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offensive: person of East Asian descent
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Verb
[edit]slope (third-person singular simple present slopes, present participle sloping, simple past and past participle sloped)
- (intransitive) To tend steadily upward or downward.
- The road slopes sharply down at that point.
- 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XXIII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
- 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.
- 1946 July and August, K. Westcott Jones, “Isle of Wight Central Railway—2”, in Railway Magazine, page 244:
- St. Lawrence Station is very prettily situated, high cliffs on the left, and the lush vegetation of the Undercliff sloping down to the sea on the right.
- (transitive) 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
- (UK, colloquial, usually followed by a preposition) To try to move surreptitiously.
- I sloped in through the back door, hoping my boss wouldn't see me.
- 2009 October 29, David Walliams [pseudonym; David Edward Williams], Mr Stink, London: HarperCollins Children’s Books, →ISBN:
- She watched him disappear out of sight, before sloping back to her room.
- (military) 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".
Derived terms
[edit]noun and verb
Translations
[edit]to tend steadily upward or downward
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to form with a slope
to try to move surreptitiously
military: to hold a rifle at a slope
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Adjective
[edit]slope (comparative more slope, superlative most slope)
- (obsolete) Sloping.
- 1625, Francis [Bacon], “Of Gardens”, in The Essayes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret, →OCLC:
- A bank not steep, but gently slope.
- 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 as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:
- Down the slope hills.
Adverb
[edit]slope (comparative more slope, superlative most slope)
- (obsolete) slopingly
- 1667, 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, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:
- 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 sun
Anagrams
[edit]Dutch
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]Audio: (file)
Verb
[edit]slope
- (dated or formal) singular past subjunctive of sluipen
- (dated or formal) singular present subjunctive of slopen
Anagrams
[edit]Categories:
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- Rhymes:English/əʊp
- Rhymes:English/əʊp/1 syllable
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