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oblique

Flag: gbEnglishOxford Dictionary of English

oblique /ə(ʊ)ˈbliːk /
adjective
1 neither parallel nor at right angles to a specified or implied line; slanting:
we sat on the settee oblique to the fireplace.
Geometry (of a line, plane figure, or surface) inclined at other than a right angle.
Geometry (of an angle) acute or obtuse.
Geometry (of a cone, cylinder, etc.) with an axis not perpendicular to the plane of its base.
Anatomy (especially of a muscle) neither parallel nor perpendicular to the long axis of a body or limb:
an oblique abdominal muscle.
2 not expressed or done in a direct way:
he issued an oblique attack on his rivals.
3 Grammar denoting any case other than the nominative or vocative.
noun
1 British English another term for slash (sense 2 of the noun)1
2 an oblique muscle:
it is the obliques and abdominals which create the well-trained look.
– DERIVATIVES
obliqueness /ə(ʊ)ˈbliːknɪs / noun
obliquity /ə(ʊ)ˈblɪkwɪti / noun
– ORIGIN late Middle English: from Latin obliquus.