Ob‐lique″ (?), a. [F., fr. L. obliquus; ob (see Ob-) + liquis oblique; cf. licinus bent upward, Gr. λέχριοσ 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.