[oblique] adj [ME oblike, fr. L obliquus] (15c) 1 a: neither perpendicular nor parallel: inclined b: having the axis not perpendicular to the base "an ~ cone" c: having no right angle "an ~ triangle"
2. a: not straightforward: indirect; also: obscure b: devious, underhanded
3: situated obliquely and having one end not inserted on bone "~ muscles"
4: taken from an airplane with the camera directed horizontally or diagonally downward "an ~ photograph" -- oblique.ly adv -- oblique.ness n
[2]oblique n (ca. 1608) 1: something (as a line) that is oblique
2: any of several oblique muscles; esp: any of the thin flat muscles forming the middle and outer layers of the lateral walls of the abdomen [3]oblique adv (1667): at a 45 degree angle "to the right ~, march"