n.
    - inclination or prejudice for or against one thing or person. ▸a systematic distortion of a statistical result due to a factor not allowed for in its derivation. 
- a diagonal across the grain of a fabric.
- Bowls  the irregular shape given to one side of a bowl. ▸the oblique course taken by such a bowl. 
- Electronics  a steady voltage, magnetic field, or other factor applied to a system to cause it to operate over a predetermined range.
v.
 (biases, biasing, biased or biases, biassing, biassed)
  - influence unfairly; prejudice.
- Electronics  give a bias to.
Etymology
  C16 (in the sense ‘oblique line’): from Fr. biais, from Provençal.