I.to turn, bend, or twist aside, awry, or in an oblique direction (poet. and in post-Aug. prose).
I. Lit.: “oculos,” Ov. M. 7, 412: “visus,” Stat. Ach. 1, 323: “equos,” id. Th. 12, 749: “pedes,” Sen. Ep. 121, 8: “crinem,” to draw back, Tac. G. 38: “in latus ensem,” Ov. M. 12, 485: “sinus (velorum) in ventum,” to turn obliquely to the wind, veer to the wind, Verg. A. 5, 16.—
II. Trop.: obliquat preces, makes, utters indirectly, i. e. dissemblingly, Stat. Th. 3, 381: “responsa,” Arn. 3, 143: Q (littera), cujus similis (litterae K) effectu specieque nisi quod paulum a nostris obliquatur, i. e. is pronounced somewhat softer, *Quint. 1, 4, 9.
