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Definitions for: Direct
[adv] without deviation; "the path leads directly to the lake"; "went direct to the office"
[adj] exact; "the direct opposite"
[adj] effected directly by action of the voters rather than through elected representatives; "many people favor direct election of the President rather than election by the Electoral College"
[adj] direct in spatial dimensions; proceeding without deviation or interruption; straight and short; "a direct route"; "a direct flight"; "a direct hit"
[adj] (electricity) of a current flowing in one direction only; not alternating; "direct current"
[adj] extended senses; direct in means or manner or behavior or language or action; "a direct question"; "a direct response"; "a direct approach"
[adj] (mathematics) varying in the same manner as another quantity; "a term is in direct proportion to another term if it increases (or decreases) as the other increases (or decreases)"
[adj] (astronomy) moving from west to east on the celestial sphere; or--for planets--around the sun in the same direction as the Earth
[adj] immediate or direct in bearing or force; having nothing intervening; "in direct sunlight"; "in direct contact with the voters"; "direct exposure to the disease"; "a direct link"; "the direct cause of the accident"
[adj] in precisely the same words used by a writer or speaker; "a direct quotation"; "repeated their dialog verbatim"
[adj] in a straight unbroken line of descent from parent to child; "lineal ancestors"; "lineal heirs"; "a direct descendant of the king"; "direct heredity"
[adj] as an immediate result or consequence; "a direct result of the accident"
[v] plan and direct (a complex undertaking); "he masterminded the robbery"
[v] specifically design a product, event, or activity for a certain public
[v] command with authority; "He directed the children to do their homework"
[v] give directions to; point somebody into a certain direction; "I directed them towards the town hall"
[v] put an address on (an envelope, for example)
[v] intend (something) to move towards a certain goal; "He aimed his fists towards his opponent's face"; "criticism directed at her superior"; "direct your anger towards others, not towards yourself"
[v] aim or direct at; as of blows, weapons, or objects such as photographic equipment; "Please don't aim at your little brother!"; "He trained his gun on the burglar"; "Don't train your camera on the women"; "Take a swipe at one's opponent"
[v] guide the actors in (plays and films)
[v] lead, as in the performance of a musical composition; "conduct an orchestra; Bairenboim conducted the Chicago symphony for years"
[v] direct the course; determine the direction of travelling
[v] cause to go somewhere; "The explosion sent the car flying in the air"; "She sent her children to camp"; "He directed all his energies into his dissertation"
[v] take somebody somewhere; "We lead him to our chief"; "can you take me to the main entrance?"; "He conducted us to the palace"
[v] be in charge of
Webster (1913) Definition: Di*rect", a. [L. directus, p. p. of dirigere to direct:
cf. F. direct. See Dress, and cf. Dirge.]
1. Straight; not crooked, oblique, or circuitous; leading by
the short or shortest way to a point or end; as, a direct
line; direct means.
What is direct to, what slides by, the question.
--Locke.
2. Straightforward; not of crooked ways, or swerving from
truth and openness; sincere; outspoken.
Be even and direct with me. --Shak.
3. Immediate; express; plain; unambiguous.
He nowhere, that I know, says it in direct words.
--Locke.
A direct and avowed interference with elections.
--Hallam.
4. In the line of descent; not collateral; as, a descendant
in the direct line.
5. (Astron.) In the direction of the general planetary
motion, or from west to east; in the order of the signs;
not retrograde; -- said of the motion of a celestial body.
Direct action. (Mach.) See Direct-acting.
Direct discourse (Gram.), the language of any one quoted
without change in its form; as, he said ``I can not
come;'' -- correlative to indirect discourse, in which
there is change of form; as, he said that he could not
come. They are often called respectively by their Latin
names, oratio directa, and oratio obliqua.
Direct evidence (Law), evidence which is positive or not
inferential; -- opposed to {circumstantial, or indirect,
evidence}. -- This distinction, however, is merely formal,
since there is no direct evidence that is not
circumstantial, or dependent on circumstances for its
credibility. --Wharton.
Direct examination (Law), the first examination of a
witness in the orderly course, upon the merits. --Abbott.
Direct fire (Mil.), fire, the direction of which is
perpendicular to the line of troops or to the parapet
aimed at.
Direct process (Metal.), one which yields metal in working
condition by a single process from the ore. --Knight.
Direct tax, a tax assessed directly on lands, etc., and
polls, distinguished from taxes on merchandise, or
customs, and from excise.
Di*rect", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Directed; p. pr. & vb.
n. Directing.]
1. To arrange in a direct or straight line, as against a
mark, or towards a goal; to point; to aim; as, to direct
an arrow or a piece of ordnance.
2. To point out or show to (any one), as the direct or right
course or way; to guide, as by pointing out the way; as,
he directed me to the left-hand road.
The Lord direct your into the love of God. --2
Thess. iii. 5.
The next points to which I will direct your
attention. --Lubbock.
3. To determine the direction or course of; to cause to go on
in a particular manner; to order in the way to a certain
end; to regulate; to govern; as, to direct the affairs of
a nation or the movements of an army.
I will direct their work in truth. --Is. lxi. 8.
4. To point out to with authority; to instruct as a superior;
to order; as, he directed them to go.
I 'll first direct my men what they shall do.
--Shak.
5. To put a direction or address upon; to mark with the name
and residence of the person to whom anything is sent; to
superscribe; as, to direct a letter.
Syn: To guide; lead; conduct; dispose; manage; regulate;
order; instruct; command.
Di*rect", v. i.
To give direction; to point out a course; to act as guide.
Wisdom is profitable to direct. --Eccl. x. 10.
Di*rect", n. (Mus.)
A character, thus [?], placed at the end of a staff on the
line or space of the first note of the next staff, to apprise
the performer of its situation. --Moore (Encyc. of Music).
Di*rect", a. (Political Science)
Pertaining to, or effected immediately by, action of the
people through their votes instead of through one or more
representatives or delegates; as, direct nomination, direct
legislation.
Synonyms: absolute, address, aim, aim, bluff, blunt, calculate, candid, channelise, channelize, conduct, conduct, democratic, directly, door-to-door, engineer, exact, flat-footed, forthright, frank, free-spoken, guide, head, immediate, lead, lead, lineal, maneuver, manoeuvre, man-to-man, mastermind, matrilineal, matrilinear, no-nonsense, nonstop, orchestrate, organise, organize, outspoken, patrilineal, patrilinear, place, plain, plainspoken, point, point, point-blank, pointed, primary, send, short, shortest, square(a), steer, straight, straightforward, take, target, through(a), undeviating, unilateral, unilateralist, unswerving, unvarnished, upfront, verbatim
Antonyms: alternating, collateral, indirect, inverse, retrograde
See Also: act, address, airt, apprise, apprize, beacon, blow, can, canalise, canalize, care, cast, channel, charge, choreograph, command, conn, contrive, control, corner, create, deal, designate, destine, direct, dismiss, displace, divert, do, dock, drop, enjoin, execute, fire, force out, give, give notice, give the axe, guide, handle, have, head, hold, hold, home in, honest, honorable, instruct, instrument, intend, label, lead, lead astray, level, make, make, manage, misguide, mislead, move, move, navigate, operate, order, park, perform, pilot, plan, point the way, position, project, pull over, range in, re-address, redirect, refer, related, route, run, sack, say, send away, send packing, sheer, show, specify, stage direct, stand out, starboard, steer, stet, straight, swing, take, take aim, tell, terminate, throw, throw, train, turn, turn, usher, zero in
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