slope

English

Wikipedia

Etymology

From aslope (a & adv).

Pronunciation

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -əʊp

Noun

A sign indicating a road with a 25% gradient slope in Elenith, Wales

Wikipedia slope (plural slopes)

1. An area of ground that tends evenly upward or downward.

   I had to climb a small slope to get to the site.

2. The degree to which a surface tends upward or downward.

   The road has a very sharp downward slope at that point.

3. (mathematics) The ratio of the vertical and horizontal distances between two points on a line; zero if the line is horizontal, undefined if it is vertical.

   The slope of this line is 0.5

4. (mathematics) The slope of the line tangent to a curve at a given point.

   The slope of a parabola increases linearly with x.

5. 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.

6. (vulgar, highly offensive) A person of Chinese or other East Asian descent.

Synonyms

• (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

area of ground that tends evenly upward or downward

• Arabic: منحدر (ar)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 斜坡 (cmn) (xiépō), 坡 (cmn) (pō)

• Czech: svah (cs) m
• Dutch: helling (nl) f
• Finnish: rinne (fi)
• French: pente (fr) f
• German: Steigung (de) f, Hang (de) m
• Hungarian: emelkedő (hu), lejtő (hu)
• Indonesian: lereng (id)
• Irish: fána (ga)
• Italian: pendio (it) m
• Japanese: 坂 (ja) (saka), 坂道 (ja) (sakamichi), スロープ (ja) (surōpu), 傾斜 (ja) (けいしゃ, keisha), 勾配 (ja) (こうばい, kōbai)
• Kyrgyz: эңкейиш (ky) (eñkejiş)

• Malay: lereng (ms)
• Maori: panaunga (mi)
• Middle English: hange
• Norwegian: skråning (no) f, bakke (no) m, oppoverbakke (no) m, nedoverbakke (no) m
• Polish: zbocze (pl) n, skarpa (pl) f, stok (pl) m
• Portuguese: ladeira (pt) f
• Russian: склон (ru) (sklon) m, скат (ru) (skat) m, откос (ru) (otkós) m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: о̀бронак (sh) m, падина (sh) f, нагиб (sh)

  Roman: òbronak (sh) m, pàdina (sh) f, nagib (sh) m

• Slovak: svah (sk) m
• Slovene: klanec (sl) m
• Spanish: pendiente (es) f, cuesta (es) f
• Swahili: mteremko (sw)
• Telugu: వాలు (te) (vaalu)
• ǃXóõ: ǃāho

degree to which a surface tends upward or downward

• Arabic: مَيْل (ar)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 斜率 (cmn) (xiélǜ), 斜度 (cmn) (xiédù)

• Czech: stoupání (cs) n
• Dutch: helling (nl) f, steilte (nl) f, glooiing (nl) f
• Finnish: kaltevuus (fi), jyrkkyys (fi)
• French: pente (fr) f, inclinaison (fr)
• Galician: pendente (gl) f
• German: Steigung (de) f
• Hungarian: meredekség (hu)
• Italian: pendenza (it) f

• Japanese: 傾斜角 (ja) (けいしゃかく, keishakaku), 傾斜 (ja) (けいしゃ, keisha), 勾配 (ja) (こうばい, kōbai)
• Norwegian: stigning (no) m, helling (no) f
• Russian: уклон (ru) (uklón) m, наклон (ru) (naklón) m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: падина (sh) f

  Roman: pàdina (sh) f

• Slovak: sklon (sk) m, stúpanie (sk)
• Slovene: naklon (sl) m, strmina (sl) f
• Spanish: desnivel (es) m

mathematics

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 斜率 (cmn) (xiélǜ)

• Czech: sklon (cs) m
• Dutch: richtingscoëfficient (nl), helling (nl)
• Finnish: kulmakerroin (fi)
• French: pente (fr) f
• Galician: pendente (gl) f
• German: Steigung (de) f
• Greek: εφαπτομένη (el) (efaptoméni) f, συντελεστής διεύθυνσης (el) (syntelestís diéfthynsis) m
• Hungarian: meredekség (hu)

• Italian: inclinazione (it) f
• Japanese: 傾斜率 (ja) (けいしゃりつ, keisharitsu), 傾斜 (ja) (けいしゃ, keisha), 勾配 (ja) (こうばい, kōbai)
• Russian: наклон (ru) (naklón) m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: косѝна (sh) f

  Roman: kosìna (sh) f

• Slovak: sklon (sk) m
• Slovene: strmina (sl) f
• Spanish: inclinación (es)

math: slope of the line tangent to a curve at a given point

• Finnish: gradientti (fi)

angle of a roof surface

• Finnish: kaltevuus (fi)

offensive: person of East Asian descent

• Dutch: spleetoog (nl)
• Estonian: kili (et)
• German: Schlitzauge (de) n, Schlitzi (de) m and f
• Italian: muso giallo (it) m
• Russian: узкоглазый (ru) (uzkoglázyj) m, косоглазый (ru) (kosoglázyj) m

• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: косооки (sh) m

  Roman: kosooki (sh) m

• Spanish: ojo chueco (es), chuequito (es) m

Verb

slope (third-person singular simple present slopes, present participle sloping, simple past and past participle sloped)

1. (intransitive) To tend steadily upward or downward.

   The road slopes sharply down at that point.

2. (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

3. (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.

4. (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."

Translations

to tend steadily upward or downward

• Dutch: glooien (nl)
• Finnish: viettää (fi)
• Italian: (ground) digradare (it), (floor) pendere (it), essere in pendenza (it), (writing) essere inclinato (it)

• Swahili: mteremko (sw)

to try to move surreptitiously

• Finnish: livahtaa (fi), hiipiä (fi)
• Italian: muoversi furtivamente (it)

• Kyrgyz: эңкейүү (ky) (eñkeyüü)
• Swahili: mteremko (sw)

military: to hold a rifle at a slope

• Finnish: ‎pitää olalla

Derived terms

• slippery slope
• sloping

Adjective

slope (comparative more slope, superlative most slope)

1. (obsolete) Sloping.
   • Milton

     Down the slope hills.

   • Francis Bacon

     A bank not steep, but gently slope.

Adverb

slope (comparative more slope, superlative most slope)

1. (obsolete) slopingly

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Milton to this entry?)

Anagrams

• lopes, olpes, poles, Poles

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Dutch

Verb

slope

1. singular past subjunctive of sluipen
2. singular present subjunctive of slopen

Anagrams

• sloep, spoel