Both Uses of
oblique
in
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
- Lying, in January, in that thin, linen sack, lying on a granite floor, without fire, in the gloom of a cell whose oblique air-hole allowed only the cold breeze, but never the sun, to enter from without, she did not appear to suffer or even to think.†
Chpt 1.6.3 *
- The owl often assumes this oblique attitude.†
Chpt 2.11.2
Definitions:
-
(1)
(oblique as in: an oblique reference) indirect; i.e., not straightforward
-
(2)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) meaning too rare to warrant focus:
Less commonly, oblique can have other meanings that relate to the concept of slanting:- An oblique line is not parallel or perpendicular to its reference line.
- An oblique angle is not a right angle or a multiple of a right angle.
- An oblique muscle is one that runs at a slant relative to the long axis of the body or relevant limb--such as the abdominal obliques.