OBLIQUE

devious, oblique

(adjective) 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”

oblique

(adjective) 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”

oblique, oblique case

(noun) any grammatical case other than the nominative

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology

Adjective

oblique (comparative obliquer, superlative obliquest)

Not erect or perpendicular; neither parallel to, nor at right angles from, the base; slanting; inclined.

Not straightforward; indirect; obscure; hence, disingenuous; underhand; perverse; sinister.

Not direct in descent; not following the line of father and son; collateral.

(botany) Of leaves, having the base of the blade asymmetrical, with one side lower than the other.

(botany) Of branches or roots, growing at an angle that is neither vertical nor horizontal.

(grammar) Pertaining to the oblique case (non-nominative).

(grammar) Of speech or narration, indirect, employing the actual words of the speaker, but as related by a third person, having the first person in pronoun and verb converted into the third person, adverbs of present time into the past, etc.

(music) Employing oblique motion, motion or progression in which one part (voice) stays on the same note while another ascends or descends.

Noun

oblique (plural obliques)

(geometry) An oblique line.

(typography) synonym of slash ⟨/⟩.

(grammar) The oblique case.

Synonyms

• (typography): See slash

Verb

oblique (third-person singular simple present obliques, present participle obliquing, simple past and past participle obliqued)

(intransitive) To deviate from a perpendicular line; to move in an oblique direction.

(military) 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.

(transitive, computing) To slant (text, etc.) at an angle.

Source: Wiktionary

Ob*lique", a. Etym: [F., fr. L. obliquus; ob (see Ob-) + liquis oblique; cf. licinus bent upward, Gr [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 25º. It is not now practiced. Wilhelm.

– Oblique system of coördinates (Anal. Geom.), a system in which the coördinate axes are oblique to each other.

Ob*lique", n. (Geom.)

Definition: 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.)

Definition: 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.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition

OBLIQUE

Etymology

Adjective

Noun

Synonyms

Verb

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