Definition of "askant"

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.

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

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.

1917, Eugene Manlove Rhodes, Copper Streak Trail‎

While appearing to listen to Adelaide, her eyes wandered over me with speculation askant in them.

1901, Elizabeth Stoddard, The Morgesons‎

A small, askant, almost contemptuous smile was on her mouth as she chewed.

1934, Kay Boyle, My Next Bride, Virago, published 1986, page 53