sloper

slope +‎ -er

sloper (plural slopers)

1. (informal) Something which angles or slopes, as distinguished from one that is verticle or horizontal.
   • 1897, American Gas Light Journal - Volume 66, page 861:

     If one saw only the Rheims benches, one would scarcely prefer the slopers to horizontal retorts with good stoking machinery ; as for instance the Ross stoker at the Cincinnati gas works.

   • 2007, Mark J. Wilson, The ARRL Operating Manual for Radio Amateurs, →ISBN, page 7-1:

     Yeah, that new pair of half-slopers really works — a lot better than the old inverted-V they're made from, ha ha!

2. A climbing hold that has a smooth surface and sloping shape, making it difficult to hold.
3. (textiles) A custom-fitted basic pattern from which patterns for many different styles can be created.
4. (textiles, obsolete) An assistant or apprentice cutter.
   • 1914, Nahum Isaac Stone, Royal Meeker, Wages and Regularity of Employment and Standardization of Piece Rates in the Dress and Waist Industry: New York City, page 145:

     The wages of slopers, so far as they have been found designated as such on the pay rolls, are given in Table 63.

5. (obsolete) A member of the peerage who has fallen from wealth but maintains social contacts.
   • 1883 December 15, Charles Dickens, “Mr. Out-You-Go”, in All the Year Round: A Weekly Journal, volume 53, page 87:

     In this work he displayed an energy and courage that not only disgusted the slopers, but likewise astonished the police authorities.

• Lopers, Spoerl, lopers, polers, proles