Library / English Dictionary

SLOPE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

The property possessed by a line or surface that departs from the horizontal

Example:

a five-degree gradient

Synonyms:

gradient; slope

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Hypernyms ("slope" is a kind of...):

position; spatial relation (the spatial property of a place where or way in which something is situated)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "slope"):

grade (the gradient of a slope or road or other surface)

pitch; rake; slant (degree of deviation from a horizontal plane)

abruptness; precipitousness; steepness (the property possessed by a slope that is very steep)

gentleness; gradualness (the property possessed by a slope that is very gradual)

Derivation:

slope (be at an angle)

Sense 2

Meaning:

An elevated geological formation

Example:

the house was built on the side of a mountain

Synonyms:

incline; side; slope

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Hypernyms ("slope" is a kind of...):

formation; geological formation ((geology) the geological features of the earth)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "slope"):

ski slope (a snow-covered slope for skiing)

piedmont (a gentle slope leading from the base of a mountain to a region of flat land)

mountainside; versant (the side or slope of a mountain)

hillside (the side or slope of a hill)

escarpment; scarp (a long steep slope or cliff at the edge of a plateau or ridge; usually formed by erosion)

declension; declination; decline; declivity; descent; downslope; fall (a downward slope or bend)

coast (a slope down which sleds may coast)

canyonside (the steeply sloping side of a canyon)

bank; camber; cant (a slope in the turn of a road or track; the outside is higher than the inside in order to reduce the effects of centrifugal force)

bank (sloping land (especially the slope beside a body of water))

acclivity; ascent; climb; raise; rise; upgrade (an upward slope or grade (as in a road))

Holonyms ("slope" is a part of...):

elevation; natural elevation (a raised or elevated geological formation)

Derivation:

slope (be at an angle)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Be at an angle

Example:

The terrain sloped down

Synonyms:

incline; pitch; slope

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "slope" is one way to...):

angle; lean; slant; tilt; tip (to incline or bend from a vertical position)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "slope"):

ascend (slope upwards)

stoop (sag, bend, bend over or down)

fall (slope downward)

climb (slope upward)

dip (slope downwards)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Something is ----ing PP

Derivation:

slope (the property possessed by a line or surface that departs from the horizontal)

slope (an elevated geological formation)

Credits

 Context examples: 

It also reveals many landslides that darkened slopes in the 5-mile surrounding area.

(NASA Mars weathercam helps find big new crater, NASA)

The upper slopes of the highest peaks are coated with a bright material that contrasts sharply with the dark red color of the surrounding plains.

(Methane Snow on Pluto’s Peaks, NASA)

It also decreases phase 4 slope and increases the depolarization threshold.

(Flecainide, NCI Thesaurus)

Its most distinctive feature is its head, which is almost flat at the top, sloping evenly down to the end of the nose.

(Bull Terrier, NCI Thesaurus)

Reaching those destinations would bring the rover closer to locations where dark streaks are present on some slopes.

(NASA Weighs Use of Rover to Image Potential Mars Water Sites, NASA)

Here and, later, at outcrops on the slope of Mount Sharp inside Gale Crater, researchers plan to use Curiosity's science instruments to learn more about habitable past conditions and environmental changes.

(NASA Mars Orbiter Spies Rover Near Martian Butte, NASA)

Here, in a clearing upon the green slope of a hill, stood a long, low, stone house, approached by a curving drive running through the fields.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Another may be slides due to the accumulating weight of seasonal frost buildup on steep slopes.

(NASA spacecraft observes further evidence of dry ice gullies on Mars, NASA)

Commonly it is obtained from the slope of a Patlak plot, where it is the increase in tissue activity concentration normalized by plasma activity concentration that occurs in a unit of normalized time.

(Influx Constant, NCI Thesaurus)

The reason a glacier flows down a slope at all is because gravity pulls on its mass.

(NASA Finds Asian Glaciers Slowed by Ice Loss, NASA)