aslant
/əˈslænt/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.36 in modern English
6
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
1
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "Take the Handle of it [a chisel] in your Right Hand as you did the Gouge, and claſping the Blade of it in your Left Hand, lean it ſteddy upon the Reſt, holding the Edge a little aſlant over the VVork, […]"
- "He Fell: The Shaft [of the arrow] that ſlightly vvas impreſs'd, / Novv from his heavy Fall vvith vveight increas'd, / Drove through his Neck, aſlant, he ſpurns the Ground; / And the Soul iſſues through the VVeazon's VVound."
- "Blovvn all aſlant, a driving daſhing rain, / Peal upon peal redoubling all around, / Shakes it again and faſter to the ground, […]"
- "The light was yet there; shining dim, but constant, through the rain. […] It led me aslant over the hill, through a wide bog; which would have been impassable in winter, and was splashy and shaking even now, in the height of summer."
- "A pigeon is not easily brought down—the quills are so stiff and strong that the shot, if it comes aslant, will glance off."
- "A wall with three windows looking out on to the canal ran aslant so that one corner formed a very acute angle, and it was difficult to see in it without very strong light."
Etymology
The adverb is derived from Middle English aslant, aslante (“at an angle, in a curve; from the side; (figurative) deviously”), from on slant (“at an angle, obliquely”), from on (“above and touching (something), on; at (a place or position); etc.”, preposition) (from Old English on, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *an (“on, upon; on to”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂en- (“on, on to”)) + slant, slante (“incline, slant”, noun) (probably from Old Norse slent, from Proto-Germanic *slintaną (“to slide; to slip”)). By surface analysis, a- (prefix meaning ‘at; in; on’ denoting a condition, manner, or state) + slant. The adjective and preposition are derived from the adverb.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /əˈslænt/
- British English: /əˈslɑːnt/
Usage
Inflected Forms
more aslant (comparative)
most aslant (superlative)