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°. 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.) 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.
Ob*lique"-an`gled (?), a. Having oblique angles; as, an oblique-angled
triangle.
Ob*lique"ly, adv. In an oblique manner; not directly; indirectly.
"Truth obliquely leveled." Bp. Fell.
Declining from the noon of day, The sun obliquely shoots his
burning ray.