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 coordinates Anal. Geom., a system in which the coordinate axes are oblique to each other.
© Webster 1913.
Ob*lique", n. Geom. An oblique line.
© Webster 1913.
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.
© Webster 1913. | 
