: 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
Eric Adler, Kansas City Star, 25 Apr. 2024
Approximately 100 vehicles line the sloping pathways.
—Roger Naylor, The Arizona Republic, 20 Apr. 2024
In one corner of the chapel, a sloping tunnel leads down to the hidden burial chamber.
—Aspen Pflughoeft, Miami Herald, 14 Feb. 2024
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
Stephen Sorace, Fox News, 24 Apr. 2024
The $20 million allocation will specifically support the installation of sheet pile walls, slope reinforcement and raising the grade at two segments.
—Adrian Rodriguez, The Mercury News, 17 Apr. 2024
Try the trail about the back of the hill for a gentler slope, and explore the connecting trails into nearby Hull’s Gulch.
—Nicole Blanchard, Idaho Statesman, 8 Apr. 2024
Across the river, steep slopes were slipping from the mountains, the air swallowed by clouds of dust.
—Wayne Chang, CNN, 5 Apr. 2024
The vines creep over our lives, over corners, around hills, down slopes, into gutters.
—Lisa Donovan, New York Times, 3 Apr. 2024
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
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
On a sloping lawn at the Kansas City Art Institute on Wednesday, some 130 2D artists took on a 3D challenge that, 28 years since its inception, has grown into a zany Kansas City tradition.
—Eric Adler, Kansas City Star, 25 Apr. 2024
Approximately 100 vehicles line the sloping pathways.
—Roger Naylor, The Arizona Republic, 20 Apr. 2024
In one corner of the chapel, a sloping tunnel leads down to the hidden burial chamber.
—Aspen Pflughoeft, Miami Herald, 14 Feb. 2024
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
Noun
Ehrhart’s body was brought up the rocky slope and carried to the parking area, where his body was given over to Redwood Memorial Chapel.
—Stephen Sorace, Fox News, 24 Apr. 2024
The $20 million allocation will specifically support the installation of sheet pile walls, slope reinforcement and raising the grade at two segments.
—Adrian Rodriguez, The Mercury News, 17 Apr. 2024
Try the trail about the back of the hill for a gentler slope, and explore the connecting trails into nearby Hull’s Gulch.
—Nicole Blanchard, Idaho Statesman, 8 Apr. 2024
Across the river, steep slopes were slipping from the mountains, the air swallowed by clouds of dust.
—Wayne Chang, CNN, 5 Apr. 2024
The vines creep over our lives, over corners, around hills, down slopes, into gutters.
—Lisa Donovan, New York Times, 3 Apr. 2024
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
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 1 May. 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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