slope
(slōp)v. sloped, slop·ing, slopes
v.intr.
1. To diverge from the vertical or horizontal; incline: a roof that slopes. See Synonyms at slant.
2. To move or walk: "Without another word he turned and sloped off down the driveway" (Roald Dahl).
v.tr.
To cause to slope: sloped the path down the bank.
n.
1. An inclined line, surface, plane, position, or direction.
2. A stretch of ground forming a natural or artificial incline: ski slopes.
3.
a. A deviation from the horizontal.
b. The amount or degree of such deviation.
4. Mathematics
a. The rate at which an ordinate of a point of a line on a coordinate plane changes with respect to a change in the abscissa.
b. The tangent of the angle of inclination of a line, or the slope of the tangent line for a curve or surface.
5. Offensive Slang Used as a disparaging term for a person of East Asian birth or ancestry.
[Probably from Middle English aslope, sloping.]
slop′er n.
slop′ing·ly adv.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
sloped - having an oblique or slanted direction