| Direct |
a. |
Straight; not crooked, oblique, or circuitous; leading by the short or shortest way to a point or end; as, a direct line; direct means. |
| Direct |
a. |
Straightforward; not of crooked ways, or swerving from truth and openness; sincere; outspoken. |
| Direct |
a. |
Immediate; express; plain; unambiguous. |
| Direct |
a. |
In the line of descent; not collateral; as, a descendant in the direct line. |
| Direct |
a. |
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 |
v. t. |
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. |
| Direct |
v. t. |
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. |
| Direct |
v. t. |
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. |
| Direct |
v. t. |
To point out to with authority; to instruct as a superior; to order; as, he directed them to go. |
| Direct |
v. t. |
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. |
| Direct |
v. i. |
To give direction; to point out a course; to act as guide. |
| Direct |
n. |
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. |
| Direct |
a. |
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. |
| Direct action |
|
See Syndicalism, below. |
| Direct current |
|
A current flowing in one direction only;
distinguished from alternating current. When steady and not pulsating a direct current is often called a continuous current. |
| Direct current |
|
A direct induced current, or momentary current of the same direction as the inducing current, produced by stopping or removing the latter; also, a similar current produced by removal of a magnet. |
| Direct nomination |
|
The nomination or designation of candidates for public office by direct popular vote rather than through the action of a convention or body of elected nominating representatives or delegates. The term is applied both to the nomination of candidates without any nominating convention, and, loosely, to the nomination effected, as in the case of candidates for president or senator of the United States, by the election of nominating representatives pledged or instructed to vote for certain candidates dssignated by popular vote. |
| Direct primary |
|
A primary by which direct nominations of candidates for office are made. |
| Direct-acting |
a. |
Acting directly, as one part upon another, without the intervention of other working parts. |
| Direct-coupled |
a. |
Coupled without intermediate connections, as an engine and a dynamo. |
| Directed |
imp. & p. p. |
of Direct |
| Directer |
n. |
One who directs; a director. |
| Directing |
p. pr. & vb. n. |
of Direct |
| Direction |
n. |
The act of directing, of aiming, regulating, guiding, or ordering; guidance; management; superintendence; administration; as, the direction o/ public affairs or of a bank. |
| Direction |
n. |
That which is imposed by directing; a guiding or authoritative instruction; prescription; order; command; as, he grave directions to the servants. |
| Direction |
n. |
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. |
| Direction |
n. |
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. |
| Direction |
n. |
The body of managers of a corporation or enterprise; board of directors. |
| Direction |
n. |
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. |
| Directive |
a. |
Having power to direct; tending to direct, guide, or govern; showing the way. |
| Directive |
a. |
Able to be directed; manageable. |
| Directly |
adv. |
In a direct manner; in a straight line or course. |
| Directly |
adv. |
In a straightforward way; without anything intervening; not by secondary, but by direct, means. |
| Directly |
adv. |
Without circumlocution or ambiguity; absolutely; in express terms. |
| Directly |
adv. |
Exactly; just. |
| Directly |
adv. |
Straightforwardly; honestly. |
| Directly |
adv. |
Manifestly; openly. |
| Directly |
adv. |
Straightway; next in order; without delay; immediately. |
| Directly |
adv. |
Immediately after; as soon as. |
| Directness |
n. |
The quality of being direct; straightness; straightforwardness; immediateness. |
| Directoire style |
|
A style of dress prevalent at the time of the French Directory, characterized by great extravagance of design and imitating the Greek and Roman costumes. |
| Director |
n. |
One who, or that which, directs; one who regulates, guides, or orders; a manager or superintendent. |
| Director |
n. |
One of a body of persons appointed to manage the affairs of a company or corporation; as, the directors of a bank, insurance company, or railroad company. |
| Director |
n. |
A part of a machine or instrument which directs its motion or action. |
| Director |
n. |
A slender grooved instrument upon which a knife is made to slide when it is wished to limit the extent of motion of the latter, or prevent its injuring the parts beneath. |
| Directorate |
n. |
The office of director; also, a body of directors taken jointly. |
| Directorial |
a. |
Having the quality of a director, or authoritative guide; directive. |
| Directorial |
a. |
Pertaining to: director or directory; specifically, relating to the Directory of France under the first republic. See Directory, 3. |
| Directories |
pl. |
of Directory |
| Directorship |
n. |
The condition or office of a director; directorate. |
| Directory |
a. |
Containing directions; enjoining; instructing; directorial. |
| Directory |
n. |
A collection or body of directions, rules, or ordinances; esp., a book of directions for the conduct of worship; as, the Directory used by the nonconformists instead of the Prayer Book. |
| Directory |
n. |
A book containing the names and residences of the inhabitants of any place, or of classes of them; an address book; as, a business directory. |
| Directory |
n. |
A body of directors; board of management; especially, a committee which held executive power in France under the first republic. |
| Directory |
n. |
Direction; guide. |
| Directress |
n. |
A woman who directs. |
| Directrix |
n. |
A directress. |
| Directrix |
n. |
A line along which a point in another line moves, or which in any way governs the motion of the point and determines the position of the curve generated by it; the line along which the generatrix moves in generating a surface. |
| Directrix |
n. |
A straight line so situated with respect to a conic section that the distance of any point of the curve from it has a constant ratio to the distance of the same point from the focus. |
| Directrixes |
pl. |
of Directrix |
