oblique

from WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006)
oblique
    adj 1: slanting or inclined in direction or course or position--
           neither parallel nor perpendicular nor right-angled; "the
           oblique rays of the winter sun"; "acute and obtuse angles
           are oblique angles"; "the axis of an oblique cone is not
           perpendicular to its base" [ant: {parallel},
           {perpendicular}]
    2: indirect in departing from the accepted or proper way;
       misleading; "used devious means to achieve success"; "gave
       oblique answers to direct questions"; "oblique political
       maneuvers" [syn: {devious}, {oblique}]
    n 1: any grammatical case other than the nominative [syn:
         {oblique}, {oblique case}] [ant: {nominative}, {nominative
         case}, {subject case}]
    2: a diagonally arranged abdominal muscle on either side of the
       torso [syn: {external oblique muscle}, {musculus obliquus
       externus abdominis}, {abdominal external oblique muscle},
       {oblique}]
    
from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Oblique \Ob*lique"\, a. [F., fr. L. obliquus; ob (see {Ob-}) +
   liquis oblique; cf. licinus bent upward, Gr. le`chrios
   slanting.] [Written also {oblike}.]
   [1913 Webster]
   1. 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.                               --Cheyne.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. Not straightforward; indirect; obscure; hence,
      disingenuous; underhand; perverse; sinister.
      [1913 Webster]

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

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

            Then would be closed the restless, oblique eye.
            That looks for evil, like a treacherous spy.
                                                  --Wordworth.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. 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.               --Baker.
      [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.

   {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 coordinates} (Anal. Geom.), a system in
      which the coordinate axes are oblique to each other.
      [1913 Webster]
    
from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Oblique \Ob*lique"\, n. (Geom.)
   An oblique line.
   [1913 Webster]
    
from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Oblique \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.
      [1913 Webster]

            Projecting his person towards it in a line which
            obliqued from the bottom of his spine. --Sir. W.
                                                  Scott.
      [1913 Webster]

   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.
      [1913 Webster]
    
from Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
109 Moby Thesaurus words for "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

    

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