A surface that either inclines or declines in a regular manner from the perspective of an observer.
She looked down a slope, needing to squint for the sunlight, onto a vast sprawl of houses which had grown up all together, like a well-tended crop, from the dull brown earth...Thomas Pynchon, The Crying of Lot 49
the slope
2
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
3
The degree to which a surface tends upward or downward.
The road has a very sharp downward slope at that point.
4
Mathematics, SciencesOf a line The ratio of the vertical and horizontal distances between two points lying on the line.
With respect to a fixed coordinate system
The slope of this line is 0.5
5
Mathematics, SciencesProscribed, Sometimes The slope of the line tangent to the curve at the given point.
See Usage notes Of a curve at a given point
The slope of a parabola increases linearly with x.
6
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.
7
a concept or idea which suggests a type of oblique or accelerating progression
The habit of lying can quickly become a slippery slope.
Not just confined to biking, once you loose that confidence or get knocked back either physically or mentally, it's a hard slope to climb back up...Dr. Ruth Anderson, The Cycling Mind
1 more example
The slope that leads toward insanity has the paradoxical distinction of being both steep and yet undetectable to the person sliding down it.Suzanne Rindell, novel, The Other Typist
"I did a slope," acknowledged the clerk frankly. "I broke all the records down that passage, I bet you. You'll laugh, I dare say, and think you would have stood, but you don't know what it was like. […]"1923, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], “(please specify the page)”, in The Eyes of Max Carrados, London: Grant Richards, →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.1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XXIII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
1 more example
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.1946 July and August, K. Westcott Jones, “Isle of Wight Central Railway—2”, in Railway Magazine, page 244:
2
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
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.
She watched him disappear out of sight, before sloping back to her room.2009 October 29, David Walliams [pseudonym; David Edward Williams], Mr Stink, London: HarperCollins Children’s Books, →ISBN:
4
Government, Military, Politics, War To hold a rifle at a slope with forearm perpendicular to the body in front holding the butt, the rifle resting on the shoulder.
A bank not steep, but gently slope.1625, Francis [Bacon], “Of Gardens”, in The Essayes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret, →OCLC:
Down the slope hills.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:
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 sun1667, 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: