oblique

• POS: Adjective, Noun, Verb (intransitive)
• HYPHEN: ob=lique

CIDE DICTIONARY

oblique, a. [F., fr. L. obliquus; ob (see Ob-) + liquis oblique; cf. licinus bent upward, Gr. le`chrios slanting.].

•  Not erect or perpendicular; neither parallel to, nor at right angles from, the base; slanting; inclined.  [1913 Webster]

  "It has a direction oblique to that of the former motion."  [1913 Webster]
•  Not straightforward; indirect; obscure;  [1913 Webster]

  "The love we bear our friends . . .
  Hath in it certain oblique ends."  [1913 Webster]

  "This mode of oblique research, when a more direct one is denied, we find to be the only one in our power."  [1913 Webster]

  "Then would be closed the restless, oblique eye.
  That looks for evil, like a treacherous spy."  [1913 Webster]
•  Not direct in descent; not following the line of father and son; collateral.  [1913 Webster]

  "His natural affection in a direct line was strong, in an oblique but weak."  [1913 Webster]

Oblique angle, Oblique ascension, etc. See under Angle, Ascension, etc. -- Oblique arch (Arch.), an arch whose jambs are not at right angles with the face, and whose intrados is in consequence askew. -- Oblique bridge, a skew bridge. See under Bridge, n. -- Oblique case (Gram.), any case except the nominative. See Case, n. -- Oblique circle (Projection), a circle whose plane is oblique to the axis of the primitive plane. -- Oblique fire (Mil.), a fire the direction of which is not perpendicular to the line fired at. -- Oblique flank (Fort.), that part of the curtain whence the fire of the opposite bastion may be discovered. Wilhelm. -- Oblique leaf. (Bot.) (a) A leaf twisted or inclined from the normal position. (b) A leaf having one half different from the other. -- Oblique line (Geom.), a line that, meeting or tending to meet another, makes oblique angles with it. -- Oblique motion (Mus.), a kind of motion or progression in which one part ascends or descends, while the other prolongs or repeats the same tone, as in the accompanying example.<-- illustr. of oblique motion, 1 bar 4/4 --> -- Oblique muscle (Anat.), a muscle acting in a direction oblique to the mesial plane of the body, or to the associated muscles; -- applied especially to two muscles of the eyeball. -- Oblique narration. See Oblique speech. -- Oblique planes (Dialing), planes which decline from the zenith, or incline toward the horizon. -- Oblique sailing (Naut.), the movement of a ship when she sails upon some rhumb between the four cardinal points, making an oblique angle with the meridian. -- Oblique speech (Rhet.), speech which is quoted indirectly, or in a different person from that employed by the original speaker. -- Oblique sphere (Astron. & Geog.), the celestial or terrestrial sphere when its axis is oblique to the horizon of the place; or as it appears to an observer at any point on the earth except the poles and the equator. -- Oblique step (Mil.), a step in marching, by which the soldier, while advancing, gradually takes ground to the right or left at an angle of about 25 Wilhelm. -- Oblique system of coördinates (Anal. Geom.), a system in which the coördinate axes are oblique to each other.

oblique, n. 

 An oblique line.  [1913 Webster]

oblique, v. i. 

•  To deviate from a perpendicular line; to move in an oblique direction.  [1913 Webster]

  "Projecting his person towards it in a line which obliqued from the bottom of his spine."  [1913 Webster]
•  To march in a direction oblique to the line of the column or platoon; -- formerly accomplished by oblique steps, now by direct steps, the men half-facing either to the right or left.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

oblique, adj., n., & v.
--adj.
1 a slanting; declining from the vertical or horizontal. b diverging from a straight line or course.
2 not going straight to the point; roundabout, indirect.
3 Geom. a (of a line, plane figure, or surface) inclined at other than a right angle. b (of an angle) acute or obtuse. c (of a cone, cylinder, etc.) with an axis not perpendicular to the plane of its base.
4 Anat. neither parallel nor perpendicular to the long axis of a body or limb.
5 Bot. (of a leaf) with unequal sides.
6 Gram. denoting any case other than the nominative or vocative.
--n.
1 an oblique stroke (/).
2 an oblique muscle.
--v.intr. (obliques, obliqued, obliquing) esp. Mil. advance obliquely.

Idiom

oblique oration (or speech) = reported speech (see REPORT). oblique sphere see SPHERE.

Derivative

obliquely adv. obliqueness n. obliquity n.

Etymology

ME f. F f. L obliquus

THESAURUS

oblique

O-shaped, across, ambagious, angle, angle off, angling, askew, aslant, athwart, atilt, awry, backhand, backhanded, banked, banking, bear off, bend, bias, cambered, canted, canting, circuitous, circular, circumlocutional, circumlocutory, clandestine, collateral, crook, crooked, cross, crossway, crossways, crosswise, deceitful, deceptive, deflect, deflectional, deviant, deviate, deviating, deviative, devious, diagonal, digressive, discursive, divagate, divagational, diverge, divergent, diverging, evasive, excursive, false, furtive, helical, implied, inclined, inclining, indirect, leaning, left-handed, meandering, oblique angle, oblique figure, oblique line, offhand, orbital, out-of-the-way, overthwart, periphrastic, pitched, pitching, rhomboid, rotary, round, roundabout, scratch comma, separatrix, sheer, side, sidelong, sinister, sinistral, skew, slant, slanted, slanting, slash, sloped, sloping, slue, sly, solidus, spiral, surreptitious, sway, swerve, thwart, tilted, tilting, tipped, transversal, transverse, traverse, turn, twist, underhanded, veer, virgule

ROGET THESAURUS

oblique

Angularity

N angularity, angularness, aduncity, angle, cusp, bend, fold, notch, fork, bifurcation, elbow, knee, knuckle, ankle, groin, crotch, crutch, crane, fluke, scythe, sickle, zigzag, kimbo, akimbo, corner, nook, recess, niche, oriel, coign, right angle, obliquity, angle of 45 degrees, miter, acute angle, obtuse angle, salient angle, reentering angle, spherical angle, angular measurement, angular elevation, angular distance, angular velocity, trigonometry, goniometry, altimetry, clinometer, graphometer, goniometer, theodolite, sextant, quadrant, dichotomy, triangle, trigon, wedge, rectangle, square, lozenge, diamond, rhomb, rhombus, quadrangle, quadrilateral, parallelogram, quadrature, polygon, pentagon, hexagon, heptagon, octagon, oxygon, decagon, pyramid, cone, Platonic bodies, cube, rhomboid, tetrahedron, pentahedron, hexahedron, octahedron, dodecahedron, icosahedron, eicosahedron, prism, pyramid, parallelopiped, curb roof, gambrel roof, mansard roof, angular, bent, crooked, aduncous, uncinated, aquiline, jagged, serrated, falciform, falcated, furcated, forked, bifurcate, zigzag, furcular, hooked, dovetailed, knock kneed, crinkled, akimbo, kimbo, geniculated, oblique, fusiform, wedge-shaped, cuneiform, cuneate, multangular, oxygonal, triangular, trigonal, trilateral, quadrangular, quadrilateral, foursquare, rectangular, square, multilateral, polygonal, cubical, rhomboid, rhomboidal, pyramidal.

Curvature

N curvature, curvity, curvation, incurvature, incurvity, incurvation, bend, flexure, flexion, flection, conflexure, crook, hook, bought, bending, deflection, deflexion, inflection, inflexion, concameration, arcuation, devexity, turn, deviation, detour, sweep, curl, curling, bough, recurvity, recurvation, sinuosity, kink, carve, arc, arch, arcade, vault, bow, crescent, half-moon, lunule, horseshoe, loop, crane neck, parabola, hyperbola, helix, spiral, catenary, festoon, conchoid, cardioid, caustic, tracery, arched ceiling, arched roof, bay window, bow window, sine curve, spline, spline curve, spline function, obliquity, curved, curviform, curvilineal, curvilinear, devex, devious, recurved, recurvous, crump, bowed, vaulted, hooked, falciform, falcated, semicircular, crescentic, sinusoid, parabolic, paraboloid, luniform, lunular, semilunar, conchoidal, helical, double helical, spiral, kinky, cordiform, cordated, cardioid, heart shaped, bell shaped, boat shaped, crescent shaped, lens shaped, moon shaped, oar shaped, shield shaped, sickle shaped, tongue shaped, pear shaped, fig shaped, kidney-shaped, reniform, lentiform, lenticular, bow-legged, oblique, circular, aduncated, arclike, arcuate, arched, beaked, bicorn, bicornuous, bicornute, clypeate, clypeiform, cymbiform, embowed, galeiform, hamate, hamiform, hamous, hooked, linguiform, lingulate, lobiform, lunate, navicular, peltate, remiform, rhamphoid, rostrate, rostriferous, rostroid, scutate, scaphoid, uncate, unguiculate, unguiform.