directlyadv.

1513 T. More in R. Grafton Chron. (1568) II. 800 The king with Queene Anne his wife, came downe out of the white Hall..and went directly to the kinges Benche.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Julius Caesar (1623) iv. i. 32 A Creature that I teach to fight, To winde, to stop, to run directly on. View more context for this quotation

1678 J. Bunyan Pilgrim's Progress 3 Keep that light in your eye, and go up directly thereto. View more context for this quotation

a1682 Sir T. Browne Certain Misc. Tracts (1684) 154 Cutting through one of them either directly or crosswise.

1790 W. Paley Horæ Paulinæ Rom. i. 9 To proceed from Achaia directly by sea to Syria.

1820 W. Scoresby Acct. Arctic Regions I. 304 [It] advanced directly towards us with a velocity of about three knots.

1509 S. Hawes Pastime of Pleasure v. ii [Grammar] doth us tech..In all good ordre to speke directly.

a1535 T. More Hist. Richard III in Wks. (1557) 58/1 He would y^t point should be lesse..handled, not euen fully plain & directly, but..touched a slope craftely.

1569 R. Grafton Chron. II. 1339 He might firste aske a question before he aunswered directly to the poynte.

1660 F. Brooke tr. V. Le Blanc World Surveyed 249 Not being able to discern directly what likenesse they were of.

1711 R. Steele Spectator No. 136. ⁋3 I never directly defame, but I do what is as bad.

1791 E. Burke Corr. (1844) III. 274 I asked him his opinion directly, and without management.

1743 W. Emerson Doctr. Fluxions iii. vii. 274 The Times of describing any Spaces uniformly are as the Spaces directly, and the Velocities reciprocally.

1796 C. Hutton Math. & Philos. Dict. (new ed.) I. 384/2 Quantities are said to be directly proportional, when the proportion is according to the order of the terms.

1799 Count Rumford in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 89 191 The time taken up..is..as the capacity of the body to receive and retain heat, directly, and as its conducting power, inversely.

1864 F. C. Bowen Treat. Logic xii. 413 The theory of gravitation, or the doctrine that every body attracts every other body with a force which is directly as its mass and inversely as the square of its distance.

1604 W. Shakespeare Hamlet iii. ii. 200 And who in want a hollow friend doth try, Directly seasons him his enemy. View more context for this quotation

1743 J. Bulkeley & J. Cummins Voy. to South-seas 18 Sent the Barge ashore..to see if the Place was inhabited, and to return aboard directly.

1847 C. Brontë Jane Eyre III. i. 12 He sat down: but he did not get leave to speak directly.

1881 W. Blades Life & Typogr. W. Caxton (1882) 230 It was probably put to press directly after if not during the translation.

1896 N.E.D. at Directly Mod. I will come directly. Directly after this, he was taken away.

1795 Montford Castle I. 88 Directly you refused [his] assistance, a judgement overtook you.

1827 R. H. Froude Remains (1838) I. 68 I quite forget all my scepticism directly I fancy myself the object of their perception.

1837 J. H. Newman Lect. Prophetical Office Church 2 But it admits of criticism, and will become suspected, directly it is accused.

1837 R. B. Ede Pract. Facts Chem. 74 Iodine and phosphorus combine directly they come into contact.

1857 H. T. Buckle Hist. Civilisation Eng. I. xii. 677 The celebrated work of De Lolme on the English constitution was suppressed..directly it appeared.

1851 H. Melville Moby-Dick iii. 14 Supper?—you want supper? Supper'll be ready directly!

1882 ‘M. Twain’ Stolen White Elephant xvi. 268 When you say you will do a thing ‘directly’, you mean ‘immediately’; in the American language—generally speaking—the word signifies ‘after a little’.

1891 R. P. Chope Dial. Hartland, Devonshire 40 Drackly or dreckly, directly; in the dialect this does not mean immediately, but shortly. ‘I'll kom drackly; I mus' finish ot I'm 'bout fust.’

1936 M. Mitchell Gone with the Wind xlvi. 824 Scarlett..leaned over the banisters. ‘I'll be down terrectly, Rhett,’ she called.