Search Result for "direct": 
Wordnet 3.0

VERB (13)

1. command with authority;
- Example: "He directed the children to do their homework"

2. intend (something) to move towards a certain goal;
- Example: "He aimed his fists towards his opponent's face"
- Example: "criticism directed at her superior"
- Example: "direct your anger towards others, not towards yourself"
[syn: target, aim, place, direct, point]

3. guide the actors in (plays and films);

4. be in charge of;

5. take somebody somewhere;
- Example: "We lead him to our chief"
- Example: "can you take me to the main entrance?"
- Example: "He conducted us to the palace"
[syn: lead, take, direct, conduct, guide]

6. cause to go somewhere;
- Example: "The explosion sent the car flying in the air"
- Example: "She sent her children to camp"
- Example: "He directed all his energies into his dissertation"
[syn: send, direct]

7. point or cause to go (blows, weapons, or objects such as photographic equipment) towards;
- Example: "Please don't aim at your little brother!"
- Example: "He trained his gun on the burglar"
- Example: "Don't train your camera on the women"
- Example: "Take a swipe at one's opponent"
[syn: aim, take, train, take aim, direct]

8. lead, as in the performance of a composition;
- Example: "conduct an orchestra Barenboim conducted the Chicago symphony for years";
[syn: conduct, lead, direct]

9. give directions to; point somebody into a certain direction;
- Example: "I directed them towards the town hall"

10. specifically design a product, event, or activity for a certain public;
[syn: calculate, aim, direct]

11. direct the course; determine the direction of travelling;
[syn: steer, maneuver, manoeuver, manoeuvre, direct, point, head, guide, channelize, channelise]

12. put an address on (an envelope);
[syn: address, direct]

13. plan and direct (a complex undertaking);
- Example: "he masterminded the robbery"
[syn: mastermind, engineer, direct, organize, organise, orchestrate]


ADJECTIVE (10)

1. direct in spatial dimensions; proceeding without deviation or interruption; straight and short;
- Example: "a direct route"
- Example: "a direct flight"
- Example: "a direct hit"

2. having no intervening persons, agents, conditions;
- Example: "in direct sunlight"
- Example: "in direct contact with the voters"
- Example: "direct exposure to the disease"
- Example: "a direct link"
- Example: "the direct cause of the accident"
- Example: "direct vote"
[syn: direct, unmediated]

3. straightforward in means or manner or behavior or language or action;
- Example: "a direct question"
- Example: "a direct response"
- Example: "a direct approach"

4. in a straight unbroken line of descent from parent to child;
- Example: "lineal ancestors"
- Example: "lineal heirs"
- Example: "a direct descendant of the king"
- Example: "direct heredity"
[syn: lineal, direct]

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;
- Example: "a term is in direct proportion to another term if it increases (or decreases) as the other increases (or decreases)"

7. (of a current) flowing in one direction only;
- Example: "direct current"

8. being an immediate result or consequence;
- Example: "a direct result of the accident"

9. in precisely the same words used by a writer or speaker;
- Example: "a direct quotation"
- Example: "repeated their dialog verbatim"
[syn: direct, verbatim]

10. lacking compromising or mitigating elements; exact;
- Example: "the direct opposite"


ADVERB (1)

1. without deviation;
- Example: "the path leads directly to the lake"
- Example: "went direct to the office"
[syn: directly, straight, direct]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Tax \Tax\, n. [F. taxe, fr. taxer to tax, L. taxare to touch, sharply, to feel, handle, to censure, value, estimate, fr. tangere, tactum, to touch. See Tangent, and cf. Task, Taste.] 1. A charge, especially a pecuniary burden which is imposed by authority. Specifically: [1913 Webster] (a) A charge or burden laid upon persons or property for the support of a government. [1913 Webster] A farmer of taxes is, of all creditors, proverbially the most rapacious. --Macaulay. [1913 Webster] (b) Especially, the sum laid upon specific things, as upon polls, lands, houses, income, etc.; as, a land tax; a window tax; a tax on carriages, and the like. Note: Taxes are annual or perpetual, direct or indirect, etc. [1913 Webster] (c) A sum imposed or levied upon the members of a society to defray its expenses. [1913 Webster] 2. A task exacted from one who is under control; a contribution or service, the rendering of which is imposed upon a subject. [1913 Webster] 3. A disagreeable or burdensome duty or charge; as, a heavy tax on time or health. [1913 Webster] 4. Charge; censure. [Obs.] --Clarendon. [1913 Webster] 5. A lesson to be learned; a task. [Obs.] --Johnson. [1913 Webster] Tax cart, a spring cart subject to a low tax. [Eng.] [1913 Webster] Syn: Impost; tribute; contribution; duty; toll; rate; assessment; exaction; custom; demand. [1913 Webster] [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Direct \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. [1913 Webster] What is direct to, what slides by, the question. --Locke. [1913 Webster] 2. Straightforward; not of crooked ways, or swerving from truth and openness; sincere; outspoken. [1913 Webster] Be even and direct with me. --Shak. [1913 Webster] 3. Immediate; express; plain; unambiguous. [1913 Webster] He nowhere, that I know, says it in direct words. --Locke. [1913 Webster] A direct and avowed interference with elections. --Hallam. [1913 Webster] 4. In the line of descent; not collateral; as, a descendant in the direct line. [1913 Webster] 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. [1913 Webster] 6. (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. [Webster 1913 Suppl.] Direct action. (a) (Mach.) See Direct-acting. (b) (Trade unions) See Syndicalism, below. [Webster 1913 Suppl.] 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 evidence, 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. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Direct \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. [1913 Webster] 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. [1913 Webster] The Lord direct your into the love of God. --2 Thess. iii. 5. [1913 Webster] The next points to which I will direct your attention. --Lubbock. [1913 Webster] 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. [1913 Webster] I will direct their work in truth. --Is. lxi. 8. [1913 Webster] 4. To point out to with authority; to instruct as a superior; to order; as, he directed them to go. [1913 Webster] I 'll first direct my men what they shall do. --Shak. [1913 Webster] 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. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Direct \Di*rect"\, v. i. To give direction; to point out a course; to act as guide. [1913 Webster] Wisdom is profitable to direct. --Eccl. x. 10. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Direct \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). [1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

direct adv 1: without deviation; "the path leads directly to the lake"; "went direct to the office" [syn: directly, straight, direct] adj 1: direct in spatial dimensions; proceeding without deviation or interruption; straight and short; "a direct route"; "a direct flight"; "a direct hit" [ant: indirect] 2: having no intervening persons, agents, conditions; "in direct sunlight"; "in direct contact with the voters"; "direct exposure to the disease"; "a direct link"; "the direct cause of the accident"; "direct vote" [syn: direct, unmediated] 3: straightforward in means or manner or behavior or language or action; "a direct question"; "a direct response"; "a direct approach" [ant: indirect] 4: in a straight unbroken line of descent from parent to child; "lineal ancestors"; "lineal heirs"; "a direct descendant of the king"; "direct heredity" [syn: lineal, direct] [ant: collateral, indirect] 5: moving from west to east on the celestial sphere; or--for planets--around the sun in the same direction as the Earth [ant: retrograde] 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)" [ant: inverse] 7: (of a current) flowing in one direction only; "direct current" [ant: alternating] 8: being an immediate result or consequence; "a direct result of the accident" 9: in precisely the same words used by a writer or speaker; "a direct quotation"; "repeated their dialog verbatim" [syn: direct, verbatim] 10: lacking compromising or mitigating elements; exact; "the direct opposite" v 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"; "criticism directed at her superior"; "direct your anger towards others, not towards yourself" [syn: target, aim, place, direct, point] 3: guide the actors in (plays and films) 4: be in charge of 5: take somebody somewhere; "We lead him to our chief"; "can you take me to the main entrance?"; "He conducted us to the palace" [syn: lead, take, direct, conduct, guide] 6: 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" [syn: send, direct] 7: point or cause to go (blows, weapons, or objects such as photographic equipment) towards; "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" [syn: aim, take, train, take aim, direct] 8: lead, as in the performance of a composition; "conduct an orchestra; Barenboim conducted the Chicago symphony for years" [syn: conduct, lead, direct] 9: give directions to; point somebody into a certain direction; "I directed them towards the town hall" 10: specifically design a product, event, or activity for a certain public [syn: calculate, aim, direct] 11: direct the course; determine the direction of travelling [syn: steer, maneuver, manoeuver, manoeuvre, direct, point, head, guide, channelize, channelise] 12: put an address on (an envelope) [syn: address, direct] 13: plan and direct (a complex undertaking); "he masterminded the robbery" [syn: mastermind, engineer, direct, organize, organise, orchestrate]
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

476 Moby Thesaurus words for "direct": Attic, Ciceronian, Spartan, address, address to, administer, administrate, advise, advocate, aim, aim at, allude to, apply, appoint, arrowlike, articulated, artless, ascetic, assign, austere, bald, bare, be master, be responsible for, beam, bend, bid, bluff, blunt, born yesterday, brief, bring to attention, bring to notice, broad, broaden the mind, brusque, buckle down, call attention to, call on, call the shots, call the signals, call upon, candid, captain, carry on, carry out, carry through, cast, catechize, categorical, catenated, ceaseless, chair, charge, chart a course, chaste, childlike, cite, civilize, classic, clean-cut, clear, clear as crystal, clear as day, clear-cut, close, coach, coherent, command, commission, common, commonplace, concatenated, cond, conduct, conduct to, confer, confiding, conn, connected, consistent, constant, consult with, contiguous, continual, continued, continuing, continuous, control, counsel, coxswain, crisp, crystal-clear, crystalline, cyclical, dead, dead ahead, dead straight, deal with, decide, declare, decree, define, defined, definite, delicate, demonstrate, determine, devote, dictate, diphyletic, direct attention to, direct to, directionize, directly, discipline, dispose, distinct, divert, dominate, downright, drive, dry, due, due north, dull, easy, edify, educate, elegant, endless, engineer, enjoin, enlighten, escort, even, exact, explicit, express, faithful, family, fasten, featureless, fine, finished, firsthand, fix, fix on, flat, focus, focus on, forthright, frank, frankhearted, free, free-speaking, free-spoken, free-tongued, gapless, genealogical, genuine, give, give an order, give instruction, give lessons in, give the word, govern, graceful, gracile, ground, guide, guileless, handle, have the conn, head, head up, heart-to-heart, helm, hold on, homely, homespun, honest, horizontal, illumine, immediate, in a beeline, in a line, in line with, inartificial, incessant, incline, inerrable, inerrant, infallible, inform, ingenu, ingenuous, innocent, instruct, interminable, irreversible, issue a command, issue a writ, joined, jointless, keep, kibitz, lay, lead, lead on, lead to, lean, level, level at, limpid, lineal, linear, linked, literally, literatim, loud and clear, lucid, luminous, mail, make go, make the rules, manage, mandate, maneuver, manipulate, mastermind, mathematical, matter-of-fact, meddle, mention, microscopic, monotonous, naive, native, natural, navigate, neat, never-ending, next, nice, nonstop, officer, one-way, open, open the eyes, openhearted, operate, ordain, order, order about, outright, outspoken, pellucid, perennial, perform on, periodic, perspicuous, phyletic, phylogenetic, pick out, pilot, pinpoint, plain, plain-speaking, plain-spoken, play, point, point at, point out, point out to, point the way, point to, point-blank, polished, post, practice, precise, prescribe, present, preside over, primary, proclaim, promulgate, pronounce, propose, prosaic, prosing, prosy, proximate, pull the strings, pure, put right, quarterback, recommend, rectilineal, rectilinear, recurrent, reeducate, refer to, refined, regulate, religious, religiously exact, repetitive, require, restrained, right, rigid, rigorous, round, round-the-clock, route, rule, ruler-straight, run, running, rustic, say the word, school, scientific, scientifically exact, seamless, see, see to, send, serried, set, set right, set straight, settle, severe, shape a course, sharpen the wits, shepherd, shortest, show, show how, show the way, sight on, simple, simple-speaking, simplehearted, simpleminded, sincere, single-hearted, single-minded, skipper, smooth, sober, spare, specify, square, stable, stand over, stark, steady, steer, straight, straight across, straight ahead, straight-cut, straight-front, straight-out, straight-side, straightaway, straightforward, straightforwards, straightly, straightway, streamlined, strict, submit, subtle, suggest, superintend, superscribe, supervise, tactless, take care of, take command, take the lead, tasteful, teach, teach a lesson, teach the rudiments, tell, terse, through, throw, to the point, touch on, train, train upon, translucent, transparent, transpicuous, trim, true, trustful, trusting, turn, turn upon, twenty-four-hour, unadorned, unaffected, unambiguous, unartificial, unassuming, unbending, unbent, unbowed, unbroken, unceasing, unchecked, unconcealed, unconfused, unconstrained, uncurved, undeflected, undeviating, undeviatingly, undifferentiated, undiplomatic, undisguised, undissembled, undistorted, unending, unequivocal, unerring, unfeigning, unguarded, unidirectional, uniform, unimaginative, uninhibited, unintermitted, unintermittent, unintermitting, uninterrupted, univocal, unlabored, unmistakable, unmitigated, unobstructed, unpoetical, unpretending, unpretentious, unqualified, unrelieved, unremitting, unreserved, unrestrained, unsophisticated, unstopped, unsuspicious, unswerving, unswervingly, unturned, unvarnished, unveeringly, unwary, upright, usher, vertical, warn, wear the pants, well-defined, wield authority, wield the baton, word for word, work
Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856):

DIRECT. Straight forward; not collateral. 2. The direct line of descents for example, is formed by a series of degrees between persons who descend one from another. Civ. Code of Lo. art. 886.