| direct | | |
| v. (communication) | 1. direct | command with authority.; "He directed the children to do their homework" |
| ~ order, enjoin, tell, say | give instructions to or direct somebody to do something with authority.; "I said to him to go home"; "She ordered him to do the shopping"; "The mother told the child to get dressed" |
| ~ stet | printing: direct that a matter marked for omission or correction is to be retained (used in the imperative). |
| v. (competition) | 2. aim, direct, place, point, target | 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" |
| ~ address | direct a question at someone. |
| ~ aim, take aim, train, direct, take | 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" |
| ~ home in, range in, zero in | direct onto a point or target, especially by automatic navigational aids. |
| v. (creation) | 3. direct | guide the actors in (plays and films). |
| ~ performing arts | arts or skills that require public performance. |
| ~ create, make | make or cause to be or to become.; "make a mess in one's office"; "create a furor" |
| ~ stage direct | direct for the stage. |
| v. (social) | 4. direct | be in charge of. |
| ~ hold, give, have, throw, make | organize or be responsible for.; "hold a reception"; "have, throw, or make a party"; "give a course" |
| ~ act, move | perform an action, or work out or perform (an action).; "think before you act"; "We must move quickly"; "The governor should act on the new energy bill"; "The nanny acted quickly by grabbing the toddler and covering him with a wet towel" |
| ~ handle, manage, care, deal | be in charge of, act on, or dispose of.; "I can deal with this crew of workers"; "This blender can't handle nuts"; "She managed her parents' affairs after they got too old" |
| ~ guide, steer | be a guiding or motivating force or drive.; "The teacher steered the gifted students towards the more challenging courses" |
| ~ head, lead | be in charge of.; "Who is heading this project?" |
| ~ operate, run | direct or control; projects, businesses, etc..; "She is running a relief operation in the Sudan" |
| ~ administer | direct the taking of.; "administer an exam"; "administer an oath" |
| v. (motion) | 5. conduct, direct, guide, lead, take | take somebody somewhere.; "We lead him to our chief"; "can you take me to the main entrance?"; "He conducted us to the palace" |
| ~ beacon | guide with a beacon. |
| ~ hand | guide or conduct or usher somewhere.; "hand the elderly lady into the taxi" |
| ~ misguide, mislead, lead astray, misdirect | lead someone in the wrong direction or give someone wrong directions.; "The pedestrian misdirected the out-of-town driver" |
| ~ usher, show | take (someone) to their seats, as in theaters or auditoriums.; "The usher showed us to our seats" |
| v. (motion) | 6. direct, send | 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" |
| ~ cast, contrive, throw, project | put or send forth.; "She threw the flashlight beam into the corner"; "The setting sun threw long shadows"; "cast a spell"; "cast a warm light" |
| ~ move, displace | cause to move or shift into a new position or place, both in a concrete and in an abstract sense.; "Move those boxes into the corner, please"; "I'm moving my money to another bank"; "The director moved more responsibilities onto his new assistant" |
| ~ turn | channel one's attention, interest, thought, or attention toward or away from something.; "The pedophile turned to boys for satisfaction"; "people turn to mysticism at the turn of a millennium" |
| ~ turn | to send or let go.; "They turned away the crowd at the gate of the governor's mansion" |
| ~ divert | send on a course or in a direction different from the planned or intended one. |
| ~ route | send via a specific route. |
| ~ refer | send or direct for treatment, information, or a decision.; "refer a patient to a specialist"; "refer a bill to a committee" |
| ~ airt, redirect | channel into a new direction.; "redirect your attention to the danger from the fundamentalists" |
| ~ blow | cause air to go in, on, or through.; "Blow my hair dry" |
| v. (competition) | 7. aim, direct, take, take aim, train | 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" |
| ~ target, direct, aim, place, point | 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" |
| ~ draw a bead on | aim with a gun.; "The hunter drew a bead on the rabbit" |
| ~ hold | aim, point, or direct.; "Hold the fire extinguisher directly on the flames" |
| ~ turn | direct at someone.; "She turned a smile on me"; "They turned their flashlights on the car" |
| ~ swing | hit or aim at with a sweeping arm movement.; "The soccer player began to swing at the referee" |
| ~ point, level, charge | direct into a position for use.; "point a gun"; "He charged his weapon at me" |
| ~ level | aim at.; "level criticism or charges at somebody" |
| ~ position | cause to be in an appropriate place, state, or relation. |
| ~ sight | take aim by looking through the sights of a gun (or other device). |
| v. (creation) | 8. conduct, direct, lead | lead, as in the performance of a composition.; "conduct an orchestra; Barenboim conducted the Chicago symphony for years" |
| ~ music | musical activity (singing or whistling etc.).; "his music was his central interest" |
| ~ perform, do, execute | carry out or perform an action.; "John did the painting, the weeding, and he cleaned out the gutters"; "the skater executed a triple pirouette"; "she did a little dance" |
| ~ conduct | lead musicians in the performance of.; "Bernstein conducted Mahler like no other conductor"; "she cannot conduct modern pieces" |
| v. (communication) | 9. direct | give directions to; point somebody into a certain direction.; "I directed them towards the town hall" |
| ~ talk down | direct and control (the flight of an airplane during landing) via radio.; "the control tower talked down the plane whose pilot fell ill" |
| ~ point the way | indicate the right path or direction.; "The sign pointed the way to London" |
| ~ apprise, apprize, instruct | make aware of.; "Have the students been apprised of the tuition hike?" |
| v. (cognition) | 10. aim, calculate, direct | specifically design a product, event, or activity for a certain public. |
| ~ destine, intend, designate, specify | design or destine.; "She was intended to become the director" |
| v. (motion) | 11. channelise, channelize, direct, guide, head, maneuver, manoeuver, manoeuvre, point, steer | direct the course; determine the direction of travelling. |
| ~ dock | maneuver into a dock.; "dock the ships" |
| ~ sheer | cause to sheer.; "She sheered her car around the obstacle" |
| ~ pull over | steer a vehicle to the side of the road.; "The car pulled over when the ambulance approached at high speed" |
| ~ helm | be at or take the helm of.; "helm the ship" |
| ~ crab | direct (an aircraft) into a crosswind. |
| ~ navigate | direct carefully and safely.; "He navigated his way to the altar" |
| ~ stand out | steer away from shore, of ships. |
| ~ starboard | turn to the right, of helms or rudders. |
| ~ conn | conduct or direct the steering of a ship or plane. |
| ~ navigate, pilot | act as the navigator in a car, plane, or vessel and plan, direct, plot the path and position of the conveyance.; "Is anyone volunteering to navigate during the trip?"; "Who was navigating the ship during the accident?" |
| ~ canalise, canalize, channel | direct the flow of.; "channel information towards a broad audience" |
| ~ tree, corner | force a person or an animal into a position from which he cannot escape. |
| ~ park | maneuver a vehicle into a parking space.; "Park the car in front of the library"; "Can you park right here?" |
| ~ control, command | exercise authoritative control or power over.; "control the budget"; "Command the military forces" |
| v. (communication) | 12. address, direct | put an address on (an envelope). |
| ~ misaddress, misdirect | put a wrong address on.; "misdirect the letter" |
| ~ instrument | address a legal document to. |
| ~ re-address | put a new address on (an envelope), as for forwarding. |
| ~ label | assign a label to; designate with a label.; "These students were labelled `learning disabled'" |
| v. (cognition) | 13. direct, engineer, mastermind, orchestrate, organise, organize | plan and direct (a complex undertaking).; "he masterminded the robbery" |
| ~ plan | make plans for something.; "He is planning a trip with his family" |
| ~ choreograph | plan and oversee the development and details of.; "The meeting between the two Presidents had been carefully choreographed" |
| adj. | 14. direct | direct in spatial dimensions; proceeding without deviation or interruption; straight and short.; "a direct route"; "a direct flight"; "a direct hit" |
| ~ door-to-door | (of e.g. journeys or deliveries) direct from point of origin to point of destination.; "the limousine offers door-to-door service" |
| ~ nonstop | (of a journey especially a flight) occurring without stops.; "a nonstop flight to Atlanta" |
| ~ point-blank | close enough to go straight to the target.; "point-blank range"; "a point-blank shot" |
| ~ straightforward | pointed directly ahead.; "a straightforward gaze" |
| ~ undeviating, unswerving | going directly ahead from one point to another without veering or turning aside.; "some people see evolution as an undeviating upward march from simple organisms to the very complex"; "a straight and narrow tree-lined road unswerving across the lowlands" |
| ~ through | (of a route or journey etc.) continuing without requiring stops or changes.; "a through street"; "a through bus"; "through traffic" |
| ~ straight | having no deviations.; "straight lines"; "straight roads across the desert"; "straight teeth"; "straight shoulders" |
| adj. | 15. direct, unmediated | 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" |
| ~ immediate | having no intervening medium.; "an immediate influence" |
| adj. | 16. direct | straightforward in means or manner or behavior or language or action.; "a direct question"; "a direct response"; "a direct approach" |
| ~ bluff | bluntly direct and outspoken but good-natured.; "a bluff but pleasant manner"; "a bluff and rugged natural leader" |
| ~ candid, forthright, frank, free-spoken, point-blank, straight-from-the-shoulder, outspoken, plainspoken, blunt | characterized by directness in manner or speech; without subtlety or evasion.; "blunt talking and straight shooting"; "a blunt New England farmer"; "I gave them my candid opinion"; "forthright criticism"; "a forthright approach to the problem"; "tell me what you think--and you may just as well be frank"; "it is possible to be outspoken without being rude"; "plainspoken and to the point"; "a point-blank accusation" |
| ~ brutal | disagreeably direct and precise.; "he spoke with brutal honesty" |
| ~ flat-footed | without reservation.; "a flat-footed refusal" |
| ~ man-to-man | forthright and honest.; "had a man-to-man talk about the facts of life" |
| ~ no-nonsense | not tolerating irrelevancies.; "the no-nonsense tones of a stern parent" |
| ~ unvarnished, plain | free from any effort to soften to disguise.; "the plain and unvarnished truth"; "the unvarnished candor of old people and children" |
| ~ pointed | direct and obvious in meaning or reference; often unpleasant.; "a pointed critique"; "a pointed allusion to what was going on"; "another pointed look in their direction" |
| ~ straightforward, square, straight | without evasion or compromise.; "a square contradiction"; "he is not being as straightforward as it appears" |
| ~ upfront | frank and honest.; "he was upfront about his intentions" |
| ~ honest, honorable | not disposed to cheat or defraud; not deceptive or fraudulent.; "honest lawyers"; "honest reporting" |
| adj. | 17. direct, lineal | in a straight unbroken line of descent from parent to child.; "lineal ancestors"; "lineal heirs"; "a direct descendant of the king"; "direct heredity" |
| ~ matrilineal, matrilinear | based on or tracing descent through the female line.; "matrilineal inheritance" |
| ~ patrilineal, patrilinear | based on or tracing descent through the male line.; "a patrilineal society" |
| ~ unilateral | tracing descent from either the paternal or the maternal line only. |
| ~ related | connected by kinship, common origin, or marriage. |
| adj. | 18. direct | moving from west to east on the celestial sphere; or--for planets--around the sun in the same direction as the Earth. |
| ~ astronomy, uranology | the branch of physics that studies celestial bodies and the universe as a whole. |
| adj. | 19. direct | 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)" |
| ~ math, mathematics, maths | a science (or group of related sciences) dealing with the logic of quantity and shape and arrangement. |
| adj. | 20. direct | (of a current) flowing in one direction only.; "direct current" |
| ~ electricity | a physical phenomenon associated with stationary or moving electrons and protons. |
| adj. | 21. direct | being an immediate result or consequence.; "a direct result of the accident" |
| ~ primary | of first rank or importance or value; direct and immediate rather than secondary.; "primary goals"; "a primary effect"; "primary sources"; "a primary interest" |
| adj. | 22. direct, verbatim | in precisely the same words used by a writer or speaker.; "a direct quotation"; "repeated their dialog verbatim" |
| ~ exact | marked by strict and particular and complete accordance with fact.; "an exact mind"; "an exact copy"; "hit the exact center of the target" |
| adj. | 23. direct | lacking compromising or mitigating elements; exact.; "the direct opposite" |
| ~ absolute | perfect or complete or pure.; "absolute loyalty"; "absolute silence"; "absolute truth"; "absolute alcohol" |
| adv. | 24. direct, directly, straight | without deviation.; "the path leads directly to the lake"; "went direct to the office" |
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