aslope

Definition

Slanted, sloping.

Etymology

From Middle English aslop, aslope (“at an angle or slant; aside”); further etymology uncertain, probably either: * from Old English āslopen (“slipped away”), the past participle of āslūpan (“to slip away”), from ā- (prefix meaning ‘away; from; off; out’) + slūpan (“to glide, slip”) (from Proto-West Germanic *sleupan (“to move stealthily, creep, sneak”), from Proto-Germanic *sleupaną (“to move stealthily, creep, sneak”), probably either from Proto-Indo-European *slewbʰ- (“to glide, slide, slip”) or *slewp- (“to glide, slip”)); or * from Middle English a- + *slope (adjective). However, the Oxford English Dictionary notes that the adjective slope (now obsolete) is attested later than aslope and is probably an aphetic form of the latter. The adverb is more common than the adjective.

Example Sentences

• "VVhere Porters Hogſheads roll from Carts aſlope, / Or Brevvers dovvn ſteep Cellars ſtretch the Rope, / VVhere counted Billets are by Carmen toſt; / Stay thy raſh Steps, and vvalk vvithout the Poſt."
• "[S]o / Do these upbear the little world below / Of Education,—Patience, Love, and Hope. / Methinks, I see them group'd in seemly show, / The straiten'd arms upraised, the palms aslope, / And robes that touching as adown they flow, / Distinctly blend, like snow emboss'd in snow."
• "The steps of the cottage door […] are now all aslope and broken, not repaired for years."