lope

[lohp]

verb (used without object)

loped, loping 

1. to move or run with bounding steps, as a quadruped, or with a long, easy stride, as a person.

2. to canter leisurely with a rather long, easy stride, as a horse.

verb (used with object)

loped, loping 

1. to cause to lope, as a horse.

noun

1. the act or the gait of loping.

2. a long, easy stride.

lope

/ ləʊp /

verb

1. (intr) (of a person) to move or run with a long swinging stride

2. (intr) (of four-legged animals) to run with a regular bounding movement

3. to cause (a horse) to canter with a long easy stride or (of a horse) to canter in this manner

noun

1. a long steady gait or stride

Other Word Forms

• loper noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of lope¹

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English verb lopen, loupen, laupen “to jump, leap,” from Old Norse hlaupa; leap, loup ² ( def. )

Word History and Origins

Origin of lope¹

C15: from Old Norse hlaupa to _leap ; compare Middle Dutch lopen to run

Example Sentences

His long, loping stride ratcheted up in rhythm over the final two laps, squeezing lungs and fraying rivals' form behind him.

From BBC

It was Wayne — America’s biggest movie star, the self-reliant enforcer, the loping lawman who set the world to rights by virtue of his unbending fortitude.

From Los Angeles Times

But soon his sprint slows and his legs start to lope as his arms swing with less force.

From New York Times

A bluesy country-rock lope with perversely creamy backing vocals by the Eagles, “Rednecks” reveals not only the hate in one man’s heart but also the means by which prejudice becomes part of a nation’s core.

From Los Angeles Times

She hurtled through the air most weeks as Lynda Carter’s stunt double on the hit television series “Wonder Woman” and mimed Ms. Carter’s leggy lope.

From New York Times

Related Words

• gallop 
• trot