slantwise

English

Etymology

From slant +‎ -wise.

Adjective

slantwise (not comparable)

1. Diagonal, in a direction or orientation between cardinal axes
   • 1858, John Greenleaf Whittier, "Telling the Bees" in The Works of John Greenleaf Whittier, Vol. I, Narrative and Legendary Poems,

     I can see it all now,—the slantwise rain / Of light through the leaves, / The sundown's blaze on her window-pane, / The bloom of her roses under the eaves.

Adverb

slantwise (comparative more slantwise, superlative most slantwise)

1. Diagonally, in a direction or orientation between cardinal axes
   • 1924, Herman Melville, chapter 8, in Billy Budd‎, London: Constable & Co.:

     […] he had received a cut slantwise along one temple and cheek, leaving a long scar like a streak of dawn's light falling athwart the dark visage.

   • 1970, Larry Niven, Ringworld, page 113:

     Slantwise, a salamander-shaped sea came at them, growing.

   • 2015 June 18, Nate Chinen, “Review: Eric Revis Trio Lets the Music Lead the Way at the Jazz Gallery”, in The New York Times‎, archived from the original on 16 June 2022:

     Ms. Davis — who at different points in the set called to mind Andrew Hill, Cecil Taylor and Paul Bley, without resorting to mimicry — often led this charge, starting out with a blank canvas and creeping slantwise into a repeatable motif.