Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Bias

Bias (bī"as) , noun

[French biasis, perh. from Late Latin bifax two-faced; Latin bis + facies face. See Bi-, and compare Face.]

1.
A weight on the side of the ball used in the game of bowls, or a tendency imparted to the ball, which turns it from a straight line.
Being ignorant that there is a concealed bias within the spheroid, which will... swerve away. — Sir W. Scott
2.
A leaning of the mind; propensity or prepossession toward an object or view, not leaving the mind indifferent; bent; inclination.
Strong love is a bias upon the thoughts. — South
Morality influences men's lives, and gives a bias to all their actions. — Locke
3.
A wedge-shaped piece of cloth taken out of a garment (as the waist of a dress) to diminish its circumference.
4.
A slant; a diagonal; as, to cut cloth on the bias.

Bias , adjective

1.
Inclined to one side; swelled on one side. [Obsolete] — Shakespeare
2.
Cut slanting or diagonally, as cloth.

Bias , adverb

In a slanting manner; crosswise; obliquely; diagonally; as, to cut cloth bias.

Bias (bī"ast) , transitive verb

To incline to one side; to give a particular direction to; to influence; to prejudice; to prepossess.
Me it had not biased in the one direction, nor should it have biased any just critic in the counter direction. — De Quincey