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Book Glossary

direct

Dictionary definition · direct

verb

  1. command with authority"He directed the children to do their homework"
  2. intend (something) to move towards a certain goal"He aimed his fists towards his opponent's face"
  3. guide the actors in (plays and films)
  4. govern or manage
  5. take somebody somewhere"we led him to our chief"

adjective

  1. direct in spatial dimensions; proceeding without deviation or interruption; straight and short"a direct route"
  2. having no intervening persons, agents, conditions"in direct sunlight"
  3. straightforward in means or manner or behavior or language or action"a direct question"
  4. in a straight unbroken line of descent from parent to child"lineal ancestors"
  5. moving from west to east on the celestial sphere; or — for planets — around the sun in the same direction as the Earth
  6. similar in nature or effect or relation to another quantity"a term is in direct proportion to another term if it increases (or decreases) as the other increases (or decreases)"

adverb

  1. without deviation"the path leads directly to the lake"

Similar words

directlystraightunmediatedaimplacepointtargetlinealconductguide

Source: Open English WordNet (CC BY 4.0).