direct

Definitions  ·  Examples  ·  Pronunciations  ·  Etymologies  ·  Related  ·  Statistics  ·  Comments  · 
“
Unhappily the framers of the Constitution were not clear as to what they meant by the word direct, and specifically they could not have told whether an income tax was direct or not, because no such tax existed in England or America at that time.

View all »
Definitions (91)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (23)

  1. transitive verb To manage or conduct the affairs of; regulate.
  2. transitive verb To have or take charge of; control. See Synonyms at conduct.
  3. transitive verb To give authoritative instructions to: directed the student to answer.
20 more from this dictionary »

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (40)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (4)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (24)

Toggle elsewhere links Elsewhere on the web

View all »
Examples (50)

  • The rail diagrams show that each of the eight suburban tracks that run into Flinders Street Station - four via the Loop and four "direct" - can handle a train every two minutes.
  • Was Harper's reference to financial security for seniors meant to be a hint of possible help -- direct or indirect -- for seniors who might get hurt from either the income trust decision or other past present or future economic tremors? —  Canadian Christianity - Canadian News
  • That set the stage for a direct, all-or-nothing confrontation in Boston harbor while merchants and officials in other ports found ways around the issue. —  Boston 1775
  • Contrast that with Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia co-CEO Wenda Harris Millard, who in her earlier keynote "lamented the fact that the Web was too often characterized as a direct-response-only medium." —  Adotas
  • I like the direct -- you might say confrontational -- approach being taken by Hawker Beechcraft a whole lot better. —  Advertising Age - Homepage
More examples »
 

Tags

Sign up or sign in to add tags.

Stats

This word has been looked up 194 times.

stop updating
On Twitter

Photos from

flickr images

Add a related word »
Related

Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Suggestions Wordniks Suggest

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

Used in the same contextWord Family

direct:   directing ·  directed ·  directs
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (5)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English directen, from Latin dīrigere, dīrēct-, to give direction to : dī-, dis-, apart; see dis- + regere, to guide; see reg- in Indo-European roots.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (4)

  1. from Middle English directe = F. Provencal direct = Spanish Portuguese directo, Portuguese also direito = Italian diretto = D. G. direct = Danish direkte = Swedish direkt, from Latin directus, straight, level, upright, steep, past participle of dirigere (also derigere, with prefix de-), set in a straight line, straighten, direct, guide, steer, arrange, from di- for dis-, apart (or de-, down), + regere, keep straight, direct, rule: see regent, right. From Latin directus come also ult. dress, address, droit, adroit, maladroit.
  2. from Middle English directen, from Latin directus, past participle of dirigere (later Italian dirigere = Spanish Portuguese Provencal dirigir = French diriger = Dutch dirigeren = German dirigiren = Danish dirigere = Swedish dirigera), straighten, direct: see direct, adjective, and cf. dress, v. Cf. also dirge, dirigible.
  3. from direct, v.
  4. from Middle English directe; from direct, adjective
 

Pronunciations
Record your own »
/dɪˈrɛkt/
by American Heritage

Charts
frequency chart

Bubble size: how much this word was used in a year

Bubble height: used more or less than expected, vs. all uses evenly distributed

You can expect to see this word a few times a day.

Recently looked up

freedom · stewardesses · medicament · cavalcade · demurred

Recent Favorites

pygopagus · sanglant · Astacus · sweetbread · qualms

Recent Pronunciations

qualms · poofter · oh for heaven's sake · embodies · silence