Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of Oblique?

\Ob*lique"\, a. [F., fr. L. obliquus; ob (see {Ob-}) + liquis oblique; cf. licinus bent upward, Gr ? slanting.] [Written also {oblike}.] 1. Not erect or perpendicular; neither parallel to, nor at right angles from, the base; slanting; inclined. It has a direction oblique to that of the former motion. --Cheyne. 2. Not straightforward; indirect; obscure; hence, disingenuous; underhand; perverse; sinister. The love we bear our friends . . . Hath in it certain oblique ends. --Drayton. This mode of oblique research, when a more direct one is denied, we find to be the only one in our power. --De Quincey. Then would be closed the restless, oblique eye. That looks for evil, like a treacherous spy. --Wordworth. 3. Not direct in descent; not following the line of father and son; collateral. His natural affection in a direct line was strong, in an oblique but weak. --Baker. {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. {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[deg]. It is not now practiced. --Wilhelm. {Oblique system of co["o]rdinates} (Anal. Geom.), a system in which the co["o]rdinate axes are oblique to each other.
\Ob*lique"\, n. (Geom.) An oblique line.
\Ob*lique"\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Obliqued}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Obliquing}.] 1. To deviate from a perpendicular line; to move in an oblique direction. Projecting his person towards it in a line which obliqued from the bottom of his spine. --Sir. W. Scott. 2. (Mil.) 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.