slant
[slant, slahnt]
- to veer or angle away from a given level or line, especially from a horizontal; slope.
- to have or be influenced by a subjective point of view, bias, personal feeling or inclination, etc. (usually followed by toward).
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- to cause to slope.
- to distort (information) by rendering it unfaithfully or incompletely, especially in order to reflect a particular viewpoint: He slanted the news story to discredit the Administration.
- to write, edit, or publish for the interest or amusement of a specific group of readers: a story slanted toward young adults.
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- slanting or oblique direction; slope: the slant of a roof.
- a slanting line, surface, etc.
- virgule.
- a mental leaning, bias, or distortion: His mind shows a curious slant.
- viewpoint; opinion; attitude: Let him give you his slant.
- Informal. a glance or look.
- Also called angle. Journalism. the particular mood or vein in which something is written, edited, or published: His column always has a humorous slant.
- Football.
- an offensive play in which the ball-carrier runs toward the line of scrimmage at an angle.
- Also called slant-in.a pass pattern in which a receiver cuts diagonally across the middle of the field.
- Also called slant-eye [slant-ahy, slahnt-ahy] /ˈslæntˌaɪ, ˈslɑntˌaɪ/. Slang: Extremely Disparaging and Offensive. a contemptuous term used to refer to a person from East Asia, especially a Chinese or Japanese person.
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- sloping; oblique: a slant roof; a slant approach.
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Origin of slant
First recorded in 1485–95; aphetic variant of aslant
Synonyms
See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.comUsage note
See slant-eyed.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
leaninganglepredispositionviewpointtiltskeworientwarpinclinegradientrakeleandiagonalgradecantdeclinationramppitchinclinationcamberExamples from the Web for slant
Contemporary Examples
Emily Dickinson famously wrote, “Tell the truth but tell it slant.”
American literature seems to want for authors of a Republican slant.
The Democratic slant extends to those receiving federal unemployment benefits.
Several Libyan political factions have their own local political reasons to slant what happened on the night Stevens was killed.
In 2009, I wrote a piece for Newsweek about Berlusconi's move to "shut up" the press with a "kill the messenger" slant.
Historical Examples
A puff of wind and a slant of rain, as I've been saying to my gel here.
The Woman Thou Gavest MeHall Caine
A bluebottle buzzed about the ceiling; a slant of sunlight crossed the floor.
A Son of HagarSir Hall Caine
The slant of the moonlight had died off the floor, and all was dark.
A Son of HagarSir Hall Caine
"Just a slant of rain maybe, and a puff of wind," said Csar.
The ManxmanHall Caine
Put a pencil in it, letting the pencil rest at a slant from left to right.
Common ScienceCarleton W. Washburne
slant
- to incline or be inclined at an oblique or sloping angle
- (tr) to write or present (news, etc) with a bias
- (intr foll by towards) (of a person's opinions) to be biased
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- an inclined or oblique line or direction; slope
- a way of looking at something
- a bias or opinion, as in an article
- a less technical name for solidus
- on a slant or on the slant sloping
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- oblique, sloping
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Word Origin
C17: short for aslant, probably of Scandinavian origin
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for slant
v.
1520s, "to strike obliquely" (against something), alteration of slenten "slip sideways" (c.1300), perhaps via a Scandinavian source (cf. Swedish slinta "to slip," Norwegian slenta "to fall on one side"), from Proto-Germanic *slintanan. Intransitive sense of "to slope, to lie obliquely" is first recorded 1690s; transitive sense of "to give a sloping direction to" is from 1805. Related: Slanted; slanting. As an adverb from late 15c.; as an adjective from 1610s. Slant rhyme attested from 1944.
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n.
1650s, "an oblique direction or plane" (originally of landforms), from slant (v.). Meaning "a way of regarding something" is from 1905. Derogatory slang sense of "a slant-eyed Asian person" is recorded from 1943, from earlier slant-eyes (1929).
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper