Definitions for: Direction


[n] the act of setting and holding a course; "a new council was installed under the direction of the king"
[n] the act of managing something; "he was given overall management of the program"; "is the direction of the economy a function of government?"
[n] the concentration of attention or energy on something; "the focus of activity shifted to molecular biology"; "he had no direction in his life"
[n] a general course along which something has a tendency to develop; "I couldn't follow the direction of his thoughts"; "his ideals determined the direction of his career"; "they proposed a new direction for the firm"
[n] direction or advice as to a decision or course of action
[n] a message describing how something is to be done; "he gave directions faster than she could follow them"
[n] a formal statement of a command or injunction to do something; "the judge's charge to the jury"
[n] a line leading to a place or point; "he looked the other direction"; "didn't know the way home"
[n] the spatial relation between something and the course along which it points or moves; "he checked the direction and velocity of the wind"



Webster (1913) Definition: Di*rec"tion, n. [L. directio: cf. F. direction.]
1. The act of directing, of aiming, regulating, guiding, or
ordering; guidance; management; superintendence;
administration; as, the direction o? public affairs or of
a bank.

I do commit his youth To your direction. --Shak.

All nature is but art, unknown to thee; ll chance,
direction, which thou canst not see. --Pope.

2. That which is imposed by directing; a guiding or
authoritative instruction; prescription; order; command;
as, he grave directions to the servants.

The princes digged the well . . . by the direction
of the law giver. --Numb. xxi.
18.

3. The name and residence of a person to whom any thing is
sent, written upon the thing sent; superscription;
address; as, the direction of a letter.

4. The line or course upon which anything is moving or aimed
to move, or in which anything is lying or pointing; aim;
line or point of tendency; direct line or course; as, the
ship sailed in a southeasterly direction.

5. The body of managers of a corporation or enterprise; board
of directors.

6. (Gun.) The pointing of a piece with reference to an
imaginary vertical axis; -- distinguished from elevation.
The direction is given when the plane of sight passes
through the object. --Wilhelm.

Syn: Administration; guidance; management; superintendence;
oversight; government; order; command; guide; clew.

Usage: Direction, Control, Command, Order. These
words, as here compared, have reference to the
exercise of power over the actions of others. Control
is negative, denoting power to restrain; command is
positive, implying a right to enforce obedience;
directions are commands containing instructions how to
act. Order conveys more prominently the idea of
authority than the word direction. A shipmaster has
the command of his vessel; he gives orders or
directions to the seamen as to the mode of sailing it;
and exercises a due control over the passengers.

Synonyms: centering, charge, commission, counsel, counseling, counselling, focus, focusing, focussing, guidance, guidance, instruction, management, steering, way

See Also: absorption, address, administration, aim, aim, authorisation, authorization, bearing, bid, bidding, canalisation, canalization, career counseling, celestial guidance, channelisation, channelization, command, command guidance, compass north, compass point, concentration, conducting, confidential information, content, control, course, database management, destination, dictation, disenfranchisement, disposal, disposition, driving, empowerment, engrossment, finance, formula, frontage, genetic counseling, guideline, handling, heading, hint, homemaking, immersion, inclination, inertial guidance, inertial navigation, itinerary, lead, leeward, magnetic north, markup, marriage counseling, message, misconduct, misdirection, mismanagement, name and address, navigation, north, opposition, orientation, oversight, particularism, path, pilotage, piloting, point, position, prescript, prescription, recipe, route, rubric, rule, social control, spatial relation, stage direction, steer, style, subject matter, substance, superintendence, supervising, supervision, system command, tendency, tendency, terrestrial guidance, tip, treatment, trend, wind, windward

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