Pronunciations (8)
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/daɪˈɹɛkt/
Pronunciation notes
- Canada
- General-American
- Received-Pronunciation
-
/dɪˈɹɛkt/
Pronunciation notes
- Canada
- General-American
- Received-Pronunciation
-
/dəˈɹɛkt/
Pronunciation notes
- Canada
- General-American
- Received-Pronunciation
-
[daɪ̯əˈɹɛkt]
Pronunciation notes
- Canada
- General-American
- Received-Pronunciation
-
/dɑeˈɹekt/
Pronunciation notes
- Australia
-
/dɪˈɹekt/
Pronunciation notes
- Australia
-
/dəˈɹekt/
Pronunciation notes
- New-Zealand
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d(a)ɪˈɹɛkt
Adjective
Proceeding without deviation or interruption.
Straight; not crooked, oblique, or circuitous; leading by the short or shortest way to a point or end.
- Examples
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the most direct route between two buildings
Straightforward; sincere.
- Examples
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Be even and direct with me.
Immediate; express; plain; unambiguous.
- Examples
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He nowhere, that I know, says it in direct words.
Nor did the government scruple a direct and avowed interference with elections.
In the line of descent; not collateral.
- Examples
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a descendant in the direct line
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.
Pertaining to, or effected immediately by, action of the people through their votes instead of through one or more representatives or delegates.
- Examples
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direct nomination; direct legislation
Having a single flight number.
Not employing the law of the excluded middle or argument by contradiction.
Usage- of a proof
- Antonyms
Adverb
Directly.
- Examples
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The walls, which are fixed direct into the ground without a plinth, are made of wattle and plastered with a thin lair of mud or cowdung.
Presumably Mary is to carry messages that she, Anne, is too delicate to convey direct.
Verb
To manage, control, steer.
- Examples
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to direct the affairs of a nation or the movements of an army
More examples (1)
Pent up in Utica he vainly forms A poor Epitome of Roman Greatneſs, And, cover’d with Numidian Guards, directs A feeble Army, and an empty Senate, Remnants of mighty Battels fought in vain.
To aim (something) at (something else).
- Examples
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They directed their fire towards the men on the wall.
He directed his question to the room in general.
To point out to or show (somebody) the right course or way; to guide, as by pointing out the way; to refer.
- Synonyms
- Examples
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He directed me to the left-hand road.
the next points to which I will direct your attention
To point out to with authority; to instruct as a superior; to order.
- Examples
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She directed them to leave immediately.
I'll first direct my men what they shall do.
To address (a letter) to a particular person or place.
Usage- Dated
- Examples
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[A]s I do not know where I shall be, and shall have my letters sent after me as soon as I do know, continue to direct hither.
Adjective
direct in spatial dimensions; proceeding without deviation or interruption; straight and short
- Antonyms
- Examples
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a direct route
a direct flight
More examples (1)
a direct hit
having no intervening persons, agents, conditions
- Synonyms
- Examples
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in direct sunlight
in direct contact with the voters
More examples (4)
direct exposure to the disease
a direct link
the direct cause of the accident
direct vote
straightforward in means or manner or behavior or language or action
- Antonyms
- Examples
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a direct question
a direct response
More examples (1)
a direct approach
in a straight unbroken line of descent from parent to child
- Synonyms
- Examples
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lineal ancestors
lineal heirs
More examples (2)
a direct descendant of the king
direct heredity
moving from west to east on the celestial sphere; or — for planets — around the sun in the same direction as the Earth
- Antonyms
similar in nature or effect or relation to another quantity
- Antonyms
- Examples
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a term is in direct proportion to another term if it increases (or decreases) as the other increases (or decreases)
(of a current) flowing in one direction only
- Antonyms
- Examples
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direct current
being an immediate result or consequence
- Examples
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a direct result of the accident
in precisely the same words used by a writer or speaker
- Synonyms
- Examples
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a direct quotation
repeated their dialog verbatim
lacking compromising or mitigating elements
- Synonyms
- Examples
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the direct opposite
Adverb
without deviation
- Examples
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the path leads directly to the lake
went direct to the office
Verb
command with authority
- Examples
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He directed the children to do their homework
intend (something) to move towards a certain goal
- Examples
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He aimed his fists towards his opponent's face
criticism directed at her superior
More examples (1)
direct your anger towards others, not towards yourself
guide the actors in (plays and films)
govern or manage
take somebody somewhere
- Examples
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we led him to our chief
can you take me to the main entrance?
More examples (1)
He conducted us to the palace
cause to go somewhere
- Synonyms
- Examples
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The explosion sent the car flying in the air
She sent her children to camp
More examples (1)
He directed all his energies into his dissertation
point or cause to go (blows, weapons, or objects such as photographic equipment) towards
- Broader terms
- Examples
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Please don't aim at your little brother!
He trained his gun on the burglar
More examples (2)
Don't train your camera on the women
Take a swipe at one's opponent
lead, as in the performance of a composition
- Examples
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conduct an orchestra
Barenboim conducted the Chicago symphony for years
give directions to; point somebody into a certain direction
- Examples
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I directed them towards the town hall
specifically design a product, event, or activity for a certain public
direct the course; determine the direction of travelling
put an address on (an envelope)
- Synonyms
- Broader terms
plan and direct (a complex undertaking)
- Broader terms
- Examples
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he masterminded the robbery