Definition of: oblique

(ə·blēk′, in military usage ə·blīk′) adjective
1. Deviating from the perpendicular or from a right line by any angle except a right angle; neither perpendicular nor horizontal; slanting.
2. Differing from a right angle; either acute or obtuse: said of angles.
3. Evasive; indirect; not straightforward; disingenuous.
4. Not in the direct line of descent; collateral.
5. Bot. Unequal–sided, as a leaf.
6. Gram. Having to do with cases other than the nominative and vocative.
7. Anat. Designating several muscles whose fibers run obliquely: the external oblique muscle of the abdomen.
—noun
1. One of the oblique muscles.
2. An oblique line.
3. A veering to the right or left less than ninety degrees, as in sailing.
—v.i. ·liqued, ·li·quing
1. To deviate from the perpendicular; slant.
2. Mil. To march or advance in an oblique direction. [<L obliquus <ob- against, completely + liquis slanting, awry]
—ob·lique′ly adverb
—ob·lique′ness noun