Oblique

Pronunciation key ( ə-blēk′ ) ( ō-blīk′ )

ob•lique

Oblique leaf

adj.

[L. obliquuis < ob- (see OB-) + liquis, awry].

1. Having a slanting direction or position, neither horizontal or perpindicular, neither level or upright; inclined
2. Lacking a straight to the point characteristic. Failure to be straightforward; indirect
therefore,
3. Evasive, disingenuous, underhand, etc.
4. In anatomy, designating any certain muscles obliquely placed and attached.
5. In botany, having unequal sides as with some leaves.
6. In grammar, designating any case except the nominative and vocative (sometimes the accusative).
7. In rhetoric, indirect: said of discourse.

v.i.
[OBLIQUED (-blēkt′), OBLIQUING]

1. To veer from the perpendicular; slant.
2. In military usage, to change the original direction of march by approximately 45 degrees.

Abbreviated as obl.

References and Further Reading

Webster's New World Dictionary of the American Language (College Edition) ©1955

Firefly Encyclopedia of Trees, Edited by Steve Cafferty M.Sc. ©2005

Zoology Quest: Chart of Leaf Shapes