lope /ləʊp $ loʊp/ BrE AmE ( also lope off ) verb [intransitive always + adverb/preposition]
[ Date: 1200-1300 ; Language: Old Norse ; Origin: hlaupa 'to jump' ]
to run easily with long steps
lope along/across/up etc
He loped off down the corridor.
—lope noun [singular]
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THESAURUS
▪ run to move very quickly, by moving your legs more quickly than when you walk:
My five-year-old son runs everywhere.
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I go running twice a week.
▪ jog to run quite slowly for exercise over a long distance:
A few people were jogging in the park.
▪ race/dash to run somewhere as quickly as you can, especially because you have to do something urgently:
He dashed across the road to the police station.
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We raced to the bus stop and got there just in time.
▪ sprint to run as fast as you can for a short distance:
I saw the runners sprinting past.
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He sprinted up the stairs.
▪ tear to run very quickly and without really looking where you are going, because you are in a hurry:
He tore down the street and around the corner.
▪ charge to run quickly and with a lot of energy, so that you might knock down anyone or anything that gets in your way:
They all charged out of the school gates at 4 o'clock.
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Dennis charged through the door into my office.
▪ take to your heels to start running away very quickly, especially to escape or because you are afraid:
The men took to their heels as soon as they saw the police.
▪ leg it British English informal to run away very quickly, in order to escape from someone or something:
I legged it before the cops came.
▪ lope especially literary to run easily with long steps – used especially about tall people with long legs:
John loped across the street to meet me.