askant

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English

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Etymology

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Alteration of askance, apparently after aslant.

Adverb

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askant (comparative more askant, superlative most askant)

  1. (now rare) Aslant; to one side, askance. [from 17th c.]
    • 1865, Walt Whitman, “When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d”, in Sequel to Drum-Taps: When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d and other poems:
      And I saw askant the armies, / I saw as in noiseless dreams hundreds of battle-flags, / Borne through the smoke of the battles and pierc’d with missiles I saw them, / And carried hither and yon through the smoke, and torn and bloody, / And at last but a few shreds left on the staffs, (and all in silence,) / And the staffs all splinter’d and broken.
    • 1917, Eugene Manlove Rhodes, Copper Streak Trail[1]:
      He folded the bill lovingly and tucked it away; but he flipped the coin from his thumb, spinning in the sun, caught it as it fell, and glanced askant at old Pete.

Adjective

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askant (comparative more askant, superlative most askant)

  1. (now rare) Aslant, sloping.
    • 1901, Elizabeth Stoddard, The Morgesons[2]:
      While appearing to listen to Adelaide, her eyes wandered over me with speculation askant in them.
    • 1934, Kay Boyle, My Next Bride, Virago, published 1986, page 53:
      A small, askant, almost contemptuous smile was on her mouth as she chewed.

Translations

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Verb

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askant (third-person singular simple present askants, present participle askanting, simple past and past participle askanted)

  1. Dated form of askance.

Anagrams

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