straightadj.n.adv.
/streɪt/, U.S. /streɪt/ A. adj.† 1. † b. Spread out, broad. Obsolete.† 4. Of a mountain: Steep. Obsolete (chiefly Scottish)
a. As participial adjective: Extended at full length. Obsolete.
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the world > space > extension in space > [adjective] > extended or stretched out
forth-straȝta1382
straight14..
streekingc1425
stented1513
stretched1518
outstretched1535
intended1590
out-stenta1598
exporrected1650
distended1834
14.. Fifty-first Ps. 45 in Pol. Rel. & L. Poems (1903) 281 Sithe þi flesche, lord, was furst perceyued And for oure sake laide streiȝt in stalle.
a1420 Aunters of Arthur 534 Hit was no ferly, in faye, His stedes startun on straye, With steroppus fulle stryȝte.
c1540 (?a1400) Destr. Troy 7677 With a streught arme he keppit the caupe on his clene sheld.
1596 J. Dalrymple tr. J. Leslie Hist. Scotl. (1888) I. 133 Quhairfor Ferithar receiuet the kingis Waipone, to wit, a naikit sworde, a bent and straucht out wande, in thir dayes called a sceptre.
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the world > space > extension in space > measurable spatial extent > breadth or width > [adjective] > having great breadth or width
broadOE
wideOE
largec1300
straight?a1366
spacious1506
basin-wide1591
late1597
broad-backed1651
?a1366 Romaunt Rose 119 And somdel lasse it was than Seine, But it was straighter [Fr. plus espandue] wel away.
2. absolute.1718 M. Prior Solomon on Vanity i, in Poems Several Occasions (new ed.) 404 Water and Air the varied Form confound; The Strait looks crooked, and the Square grows round.
a. Not crooked; free from curvature, bending, or angularity.
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the world > space > shape > straightness > [adjective]
rightOE
straightc1350
rightfulc1384
line-rightc1400
rule-righta1450
streckc1480
unbent1483
straight forth1536
unwried1558
steel-straighta1560
untwisted1575
uncurled1597
rectified1598
cornerless1605
uncrooked1611
unbended1648
retent1656
uninflected1713
curveless1800
arrow-straight1834
unconvoluted1839
unwarped1855
curlless1861
undistorted1881
poker-straight1949
c1350 Libeaus Desc. (Kaluza) 942 Hir nose was streiȝt [Cotton MS. strath] and riȝt.
c1369 G. Chaucer Bk. Duchesse 942 Hyt [sc. her neck] was white, smothe, streght and pure flatte Wyth-outen hole.
a1475 Liber Cocorum (Sloane) (1862) 35 On alle þese fowles þo legges schune bene, Summe cralled, sum streȝt, as I have sene.
?1523 J. Fitzherbert Bk. Husbandry f. iiiv The plowes that go with whelys haue a streit beam.
c1540 (?a1400) Destr. Troy 1574 The Stretis were streght & of a stronge brede.
1563 W. Baldwin et al. Myrrour for Magistrates (new ed.) Jane Shore xx And bent the wand that might have growen ful streight.
1583 Sir T. Smith's De Republica Anglorum i. i. 1 A rule is alway to be vnderstoode to be straight.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Cymbeline (1623) iii. i. 37 There is no mo such Cæsars, other of them may haue crook'd Noses, but to owe such straite Armes, none.
1660 J. Childrey Britannia Baconica 129 This River is a very streight and broad river.
?1677 S. Primatt City & Covntry Purchaser & Builder 52 Let him in the buying his timber, buy the streightest he can light on.
1678 R. L'Estrange tr. Of Happy Life xvi. 206 in Seneca's Morals Abstracted (1679) A streight Stick in the Water appears to be crooked.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics iii, in tr. Virgil Wks. 100 Upright he walks, on Pasterns firm and straight; His Motions easy; prancing in his Gate. View more context for this quotation
1728 E. Chambers Cycl. at Stairs Straight Stairs..are such as always fly, that is, proceed in a Right Line, and never wind.
1737 Gentleman's Mag. Mar. 190/2 The Bill was hardly discernable, so I cannot say whether it was Streight or Crooked.
1767 B. Gooch Pract. Treat. Wounds I. 234 We are to consider the..shape of the weapon; whether it has a strait, or a rising edge.
a1785 A. Parsons Trav. (1808) xi. 230 The streets are all strait.
1786 R. Burns Poems & Songs (1968) I. 105 And such a leg!.. Sae straught, sae taper, tight and clean.
1794 R. Kirwan Elements Mineral. (ed. 2) I. 162 Fracture presents..mostly streight and parallel, rarely curved fibres.
1796 W. Withering Arrangem. Brit. Plants (ed. 3) II. 123 Panicle stiff and straight.
1839 J. Lindley Introd. Bot. (ed. 3) 485 Straight (rectus); not wavy or curved, or deviating from a straight direction in any way.
1842 J. C. Loudon Suburban Horticulturist 138 This requires a blade with a straight edge like those of the pruning-knives now in general use.
1896 Law Times Rep. 73 615/1 The railway line..was perfectly straight for a distance of over 700 yards.
b. straight line n. a line uniform in direction throughout its length; Geometry = right line n. at right adj. and int. Compounds 2, which is now rare.
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the world > space > shape > straightness > [noun] > rectilinear quality > a straight line
straight line1398
right linec1400
rectitude1578
1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomew de Glanville De Proprietatibus Rerum (1495) iii. xvii. 61 One manere of the syghte is by strayte lynes vpon the whyche the lyknesse of the thyng that is seen cometh to the syghte.
?1537 R. Benese Bk. Measurynge Lande sig. Aiiij Of lynes one is a straygth lyne hangyng, ye seconde is a straygth lyne ouerthwarte [i.e. perpendicular and horizontal].
1551 R. Record Pathway to Knowl. i. Defin. Of lynes there bee two principall kyndes,..a right or straight lyne, and..a croked lyne.
1610 E. Bolton Elements of Armories 87 Armorial Lines are in their first diuision Straight, or Crooked. Againe the Straight are either Direct, or Oblique.
1649 Bp. J. Taylor Great Exemplar i. viii. 118 Of all lines the straight is the shortest.
1697 J. Potter Archæologiæ Græcæ I. ii. xiv. 287 Instead of ascending in a streight Line, it [sc. the flame] whirled round.
1726 G. Leoni tr. L. B. Alberti Architecture I. 9 a The strait Line is a Line drawn from one Point to another, the shortest Way.
1799 H. More Strict. Mod. Syst. Fem. Educ. (ed. 4) I. 240 Why in teaching to draw do you begin with strait lines and curves?
1840 D. Lardner Treat. Geom. ii. 25 If from any proposed point P, several straight lines be drawn to a given straight line AB.
1870 B. Stewart Lessons Elem. Physics §25. 28 The method of representing forces by straight lines.
1884 B. Bosanquet et al. tr. H. Lotze Metaphysic 182 If we proceed onwards in a straight line, we shall, admittedly, never come to the end of the line.
1885 C. Leudesdorf tr. L. Cremona Elements Projective Geom. 75 Through M..draw two straight lines to cut u in A and B.
c. Of a human form, a back: Erect, not crooked or stooping.
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the world > space > relative position > posture > upright or erect posture > [adjective]
uprightOE
erectc1530
erected1604
straighta1616
straight-pighta1616
standing1631
undeclining1820
a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry V (1623) v. ii. 160 A good Legge will fall, a strait Back will stoope, a blacke Beard will turne white. View more context for this quotation
1826 F. Reynolds Life & Times I. 232 He was young, tall, strait, and good-looking.
1855 Ld. Tennyson Brook in Maud & Other Poems 105 A daughter of our meadows,..Straight, but as lissome as a hazel wand.
1866 ‘G. Eliot’ Felix Holt I. i. 31 You are as straight as an arrow still.
d. Of a limb, etc.: Held with the joint not flexed.
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the world > life > the body > external parts of body > limb > [adjective] > types of
straight1765
spidery1823
the world > space > relative position > posture > action or fact of bending > [adjective] > specific part of body > not bent
straight1765
1765 D. Angelo School of Fencing (ed. 2) 18 Keep a strait arm, in order to throw off his point.
a1774 O. Goldsmith Surv. Exper. Philos. (1776) II. 169 As painful as it would be to stretch out a finger streight that was contracted by an inflammation.
1940 W. Faulkner Hamlet iii. ii. 200 Lying flat on his back in the darkness with his eyes open and his arms straight beside him, thinking of nothing.
1955 Simple Gymnastics (‘Know the Game’ Ser.) 6/1 When your knees are as high as this, squeeze your legs together and lay back with straight arms.
e. Of hair: Not curly or waved.
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the world > life > the body > hair > types of hair > [adjective] > straight
uncurled1596
lanky1670
lankish1689
lank1690
straight1748
sleeking1827
uncrisped1827
uncurling1854
curlless1861
1748 T. Smollett Roderick Random I. xiii. 97 My hair..hung down upon my shoulders, as lank and streight as a pound of candles.
1774 Pennsylvania Gaz. 23 Feb. 5/3 A native Irish servant man,..fair complexion, straight fair hair.
1886 H. W. Lucy Diary Two Parl.: Gladstone 239 His pale face, his straight black hair.
f. Printing. straight accent n. a macron.
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society > communication > printing > printed matter > printed character(s) > [noun] > macron
straight accent1888
1888 C. T. Jacobi Printers' Vocab. 134 Straight accents, another term for long accents, thus—ā ē ī ō ū.
g. Architecture. (See quots.)
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society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > architecture > arch > [adjective] > types of arch
schemed1715
rampant1725
surmounted1728
ox-eyed1736
round-headed1751
full-centred1756
rounded1757
shark-toothed1794
straight1812
spandrelled1813
keyed1822
full centre1837
ogival1841
ogived1845
subarcuated1849
bonnet-headed1850
ogeed1851
uncusped1859
voussoired1875
subordered1898
society > occupation and work > industry > building or constructing > building or providing with specific parts > specific parts built or constructed > [adjective] > of the nature of a wall > types of wall
raddled1553
quartered1752
straight1812
1666 Act 18 & 19 Chas. II c. 8 §5 Archworke of Bricke or Stone either straight or circular.]
1812 P. Nicholson Mech. Exercises 237 All vaults which have a horizontal straight axis, are called straight vaults.
1828 P. Nicholson Pract. Masonry 110 Straight walls, those which have plane surfaces.
h. Anatomy. The distinctive epithet of certain structures (= modern Latin rectus).
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1585 J. Higgins tr. Junius Nomenclator 31/2 Intestinum rectum,..the straight gut, or the arse gut.
1749 D. Hartley Observ. Man i. i. §3. 99 The Four strait Muscles of the Eye.
1840 E. Wilson Anatomist's Vade Mecum (1842) 339 The Straight or fourth sinus is the sinus of the tentorium.
1879 G. C. Harlan Eyesight ii. 30 The straight muscles, acting together, tend to draw it [the eyeball] backwards, while the oblique muscles are so placed as to oppose this tendency.
i. Zoology and Botany. (See quots.)
ΚΠ
1822 J. Parkinson Outl. Oryctol. 171 The additions which this author has made to the genera of straight multilocular shells.
1841 Penny Cycl. XXI. 183/2 Mirbel has proposed a classification of ovules. When the ovule has grown regularly with the hilum and chalaza at the base and the foramen at the apex, it is called a straight ovule, or orthotropous.
1854 A. Adams et al. Man. Nat. Hist. 373 Straight-Foraminifers (Vaginulidæ).
j. Of the front of a coat or dress: Not fitting closely to the chest.
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the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > [adjective] > that fits in specific way > not fitting closely to chest
straight1893
1893 Daily News 5 Apr. 7/1 This shape is fitted in towards the waist at the back, but the fronts are ‘straight,’ a tailor's technicality for ‘not fitting’.
1906 Daily Chron. 19 Sept. 4/4 The dress-improver and even the ‘straight~front’ were in the panoply of the society dame of nineteen centuries ago.
3. Direct, undeviating.
a.
(a) Of a way or course: Leading directly to its destination; not deviating or circuitous. Also in figurative context.
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the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > a straight course > [adjective]
forthrightc1000
rightOE
evenc1175
straightc1400
directa1500
right forth1561
outright1582
ungiddy1615
undeclined1638
forerighta1640
rectilinear1651
right-lined1702
rectilineala1774
arrow-straight1834
straightaway1874
point-to-point1930
society > travel > means of travel > route or way > [adjective] > direct
rightOE
straightc1400
directa1500
undevious1773
c1400 (?c1380) Pearl l. 691 By wayez ful streȝt he con hym strayn [Vulg. Sap. x. 10 Deduxit per vias rectas].
c1405 (c1385) G. Chaucer Knight's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 832 Duc Theseus the streighte wey hath holde And to the launde he rideth hym ful right.
c1425 Hampole's Psalter Metr. Pref. 32 This is þe way to mannys syȝt; euen streygth wiþ out deseyt.
1488 Cal. Anc. Rec. Dublin (1889) I. 493 And so forth the streyght wey till they came to Kylmagergan.
a1513 W. Dunbar Poems (1998) I. 162 Quhat is this lyfe bot ane straucht [1568 draucht] way to deid.
1526 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfection ii. sig. Giii This waye of religion, whiche is the streyght waye to the perfection of grace.
1533 J. Bellenden tr. Livy Hist. Rome II. 6 Þan was It found expedient to send Icelius brother and numitorius son..þe strauchest way þai mycht to þe portis.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Luke iii. 4 Prepare the waye of the Lorde, and make his pathes straight.
1569 R. Grafton Chron. II. 28 He without long tariyng or aduisement, tooke the streight way to the sea syde.
1627 Abp. G. Abbot in J. Rushworth Hist. Coll. (1659) 456 To keep things in a streight course, sometimes in fits of the Gout, I was forced by my Servants to be carried into the Court.
1736 Bp. J. Butler Analogy of Relig. i. v. 93 If we were to suppose a strait Path marked out for a Person.
1820 W. Scott Monastery II. ix. 275 While, in pursuit of his interest he made all the doubles which he thought necessary to attain his object, he often..missed that which he might have gained by observing a straighter course.
1859 ‘G. Eliot’ Adam Bede III. v. xxxvii. 44 Hetty..asked the straightest road northward towards Stonyshire.
(b) figurative, in collocation with narrow, esp. in straight and narrow path, a course of conventionally moral and law-abiding behaviour; frequently elliptical in colloquial usage as straight and narrow. Cf. strait and narrow at strait adj. 3b. The latter use is a misinterpretation of Matthew vii. 14 ‘Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way which leadeth vnto life, and few there be that finde it.’
ΘΚΠ
society > law > rule of law > [noun] > respect for or observance of law > course of law-abiding behaviour
straight and narrow path1842
society > morality > virtue > [noun] > conduct > course of
narrow wayOE
highwaya1200
the right way (also regionally gate) (of)a1628
straight and narrow path1842
high road1950
1842 J. E. Leeson Hymns & Scenes of Childhood 25 Loving Shepherd, ever near, Teach Thy lamb Thy voice to hear; Suffer not my steps to stray From the straight and narrow way.
1912 T. Dreiser Financier xxiii. 253 In his younger gallivantings about places of ill repute, and his subsequent occasional variations from the straight and narrow path, he had learned much of the curious resources of immorality.
1930 J. Dos Passos 42nd Parallel iv. 275 Robbins..said that he..would have to follow the straight and narrow.
1959 ‘D. Buckingham’ Wind Tunnel xx. 161 He had unwittingly caused Madelaine to take a far more serious step off the straight and narrow.
1970 Times 13 Feb. 10/4 It may be counted for consistency..that the White Paper should not have flinched..once again to sign-post the straight and narrow path.
1978 F. Weldon Praxis x. 73 It's only the fear of pregnancy which keeps girls on the straight and narrow.
b. Of a look: Bold, steady.
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the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > a look or glance > [adjective] > staring > fixed or steady
steadfasta1300
straightc1540
fixed1552
riveted1807
steadya1822
c1540 (?a1400) Destr. Troy 3758 Stokyn ene out stepe with a streught loke.
1898 G. B. Shaw You never can Tell ii. 241 She takes his hand and presses it, with a frank, straight look into his eyes.
1922 T. S. Eliot Waste Land (1923) ii. 12 He wants a good time. And if you don't give it him, there's others will, I said... Then I'll know who to thank, she said, and give me a straight look.
c. Of an aim, a stroke, a throw, etc.: Directed precisely to the mark.
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the world > space > direction > [adjective] > given direction towards a mark > aimed straight at mark
point-blank1591
straight1833
1833 J. Nyren Young Cricketer's Tutor 33 All straight balls should be played straight back.
1836 C. Dickens Pickwick Papers (1837) vii. 69 The ball flew from his hand straight and swift towards the centre stump of the wicket.
1859 J. Ruskin Two Paths i. §32 The workman's whole aim is straight at the facts, as well as he can get them.
1884 Sat. Rev. 26 Jan. 108/1 The clumsy round-armed hit [in boxing]..is not esteemed so highly as a straight hit made directly from the shoulder.
d. Of gunpowder: = straight-shooting adj. at Compounds 2a(a).
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society > armed hostility > military equipment > operation and use of weapons > action of propelling missile > discharge of firearms > [adjective] > of gunpowder: shooting directly
straight1899
straight-shooting1901
1899 F. V. Kirby Sport E. Central Afr. xxvii. 302 I had made up my mind to use my rifle, with the straightest powder I had.
1900 F. T. Pollok & W. S. Thom Wild Sports Burma & Assam 262 One need not necessarily burn straight powder.
e. colloquial. Of an utterance: Outspoken, unreserved. Also, straightforward, not evasive. straight talk n. a piece of plain speaking.
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society > communication > expression > [adjective] > of an utterance
vivid1806
straight1894
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > sincerity, freedom from deceit > [adjective] > frank, candid
free-hearteda1398
plain-dealing1567
plain-spoken1582
broad1588
free-spoken1606
free1611
unminced1648
unreserved1654
candid1675
above boarda1695
unmanaged1749
unprevaricating?1782
plain-speaking1787
loud-mouthing1788
bluff1808
outspoken1808
unglossing1827
straightforward1829
unwithholdinga1834
open-spoken1852
heart-to-heart1855
blunt-spoken1877
straight1894
society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > plainness > [noun] > plain language
plain Englisha1438
plain (later also downright) Dunstable1578
straight talk1894
outspeech1919
society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > plainness > [adjective] > straightforward or direct
naked?c1225
platc1385
plaina1393
light?a1400
rounda1450
direct1530
frank1548
evena1573
handsmooth1612
point-blank1648
crude1650
plain-spoken1658
plain-spoke1706
unambiguous1751
plump1789
straightforward1806
plain-said1867
pine-blank1883
straight1894
point-to-point1905
non-ambiguous1924
Wife of Bath1926
simpliste1973
1894 J. D. Astley Fifty Years of my Life I. 326 I made a vow..that I would never open that infernal Euclid book again, and, what is more, I never will! so that is straight.
1895 Westm. Gaz. 11 Sept. 2/2 The jury..attributed the accident solely to the neglect of the Conservators... That is pretty straight.
1900 Westm. Gaz. 1 Sept. 1/2 One candidate..is already consoling himself in advance with the thought of the Straight Talks he will give the..deputations that are certain to descend upon him.
1903 Westm. Gaz. 9 Jan. 2/2 It was a night of Straight Talks.
1959 A. Sillitoe Loneliness of Long-distance Runner ii. 178 ‘You'll get five years in Borstal if you don't give me a straight answer,’ he said.
1973 J. Porter It's Murder with Dover vii. 70 Dover generously gave him a straight answer to a straight question. ‘No,’ he said.
1979 A. Hailey Overload (new ed.) iv. viii. 333 Nim, give me the straight dope behind this Yale thing. What went wrong?
Categories »
f. the straight tip (colloquial): see tip n.4 b.
g. Tennis. Applied to the sets in a match where the winner has not conceded a set. Also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > racket games > lawn tennis > [adjective] > unconceded sets
straight1895
1895 Official Lawn Tennis Bull. 4 July 103 Stevens's persistent and accurate ground-strokes from the base~line, and his ability to reach and return everything safely proved too much for Fischer, who was beaten rather badly in straight sets.
1911 Wright & Ditson's Official Lawn Tennis Guide 12 Except in the second set of this match, the two Doyles..were completely outclassed and Waidner and Gardner made rather easy work, winning in straight sets.
1936 E. C. Potter Kings of Court vi. 99 If Brookes had been able to hold his service..it might have gone for a straight-set win.
1949 D. C. Coombe Hist. Davis Cup 222 Petra won both his singles in straight sets.
1961 Times 4 Jan. 11/3 Miss McAlpine should have won in straight sets.
1971 R. Laver & B. Collins Educ. Tennis Player xxiii. 273 I picked up a little Spanish in that stretch of straight-set victories.
1980 Guardian 20 Sept. 10/3 (heading) Straight set winners.
h. Consecutive, in unbroken sequence. colloquial (originally U.S.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > order > order, sequence, or succession > [adjective] > successive or following one after another
successive?a1475
progressional1570
consecutive1611
sequenta1616
progressive1620
back-to-back1626
running1682
seriatim1813
straight1899
tandem1926
the world > relative properties > order > order, sequence, or succession > continuity or uninterruptedness > [adjective] > forming an unbroken series
continual1557
sequent1609
connexed1614
connex1653
straight1971
1899 J. London Let. 30 Apr. (1966) 35 He spent 48 straight hours with me a couple of days before he went.
1963 Wall St. Jrnl. 25 Jan. 31/3 American Photocopy Equipment stock was the most active stock for the second straight day.
1971 R. Laver & B. Collins Educ. Tennis Player xxv. 291 I had won 30 straight matches since losing to Newcombe in June, the week before Wimbledon.
1976 Morecambe Guardian 7 Dec. 8/9 Vale got off to a good start through their No. 1 Mike Ashby who won in fine style in three straight games.
1977 Listener 10 Mar. 295/1 Company earnings..had reflected their 16th straight annual gain.
i. Horse Racing. Designating a bet which backs (a horse, etc.) to win. Cf. pari-mutuel n.
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society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > betting > [adjective] > type of bet
even money1868
straight1928
over-and-under1980
1928 Daily Sketch 10 Aug. 20/4 It..can be used either for straight or place betting.
1974 P. Arnold Bk. Gambling viii. 88/1 If there are three to six runners, a straight forecast pool is also run. Bettors are required to name the first two horses to finish, in the correct order.
1976 Webster's Sports Dict. 427/2 Straight,..[in] parimutuel betting. First place at the finish. When a straight wager is made, the bettor collects only if the competitor wins.
j. Straightforward, simple, uncomplicated. colloquial.
ΚΠ
1936 Discovery Aug. 254/1 It is possible to perceive a sharp demarcation between what may be called ‘straight dowsing’ and ‘divination proper’.
1957 Times Lit. Suppl. 18 Oct. 625/3 Any editor worth his salt is grateful to have slips, oversights, straight mistakes and insensitivities pointed out.
1962 Times 5 July 15/5 The tapes all emerged as inferior in straight comparisons.
1972 P. G. Wodehouse Pearls, Girls, & Monty Bodkin x. 143 Would he be cut in on the gross receipts, do you think, or is he on a straight salary?
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > landscape > high land > mountain > [adjective] > high or steep
straight1475
severe1881
1475 Bk. Noblesse (Roxb.) 15 The streit high monteyns of Pirone.
1533 J. Bellenden tr. Livy Hist. Rome (1901) I. ii. xxi. 218 Þai fled vp throw ane strate montane.
c1550 Complaynt Scotl. (1979) 2 The quhilkz volffis ar nocht the rauand sauuage volffis of strait montanis ande vyild fforrestis.
a1800 Bonny Lizie Lindsay xxiii, in F. J. Child Eng. & Sc. Pop. Ballads (1892) IV. viii. 262/2 The mountains were baith strait and stay.
5. straight angle.† a. A right angle. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > angularity > [noun] > angle or corner > right angle
right anglec1400
right corner1548
rectangle1560
quadrate1568
straight angle1601
the world > relative properties > number > geometry > angle > [noun] > right angle
right anglec1400
rectangle1560
quadrate1568
straight angle1601
rect angle1605
1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World I. ii. xviii. 13 Those raies that come sidelong..give but a darke and dim light..in comparison of them that fall directly with streight angles.
1707 J. Mortimer Whole Art Husbandry 431 The best Figure for a Kitchin-Garden..is a Square of straight Angles.
b. In modern use: an angle of 180°.
ΚΠ
1889 N. F. Dupuis Elem. Synthetic Geom. §36. 17 One-half of a circumangle is a straight angle, and one-fourth of a circumangle is a right angle.
6. 1864 R. B. Kimball Was he Successful? 43 You are honest too—straight as a shingle.1890 Spectator 22 Nov. There exists..a sort of instinctive appreciation of honesty which.. gives enormous influence to any big squatter who is really upright and ‘straight’.1893 Jrnl. Royal Agric. Soc. 3rd Ser. 4 1 Having the reputation of being a fearless and independent divine, a straight man, true to his cloth and calling.1901 W. Stubbs in Church Q. Rev. Apr. 9 I think there never was such a life, so long, so brave, so devoted, so straight.1904 Shuddick How to arrange with Creditors 32 If the debtor..has been what is called a straight man, the creditors..accept his proposal of a composition.1908 W. W. Fowler Soc. Life Rome vi. 200 It is on the whole a pleasing letter... The reader shall be left to decide for himself whether it is perfectly straight and genuine.1977 J. Wainwright Day of Peppercorn Kill 37 Inky was straight... Ten years ago, Inky had walked away from prison..and, since that day, he hadn't put a foot wrong.† b. Right, proper, fitting. Obsolete.
a. Of conduct: Free from crookedness; frank, honest. Hence of persons and their attributes. Also in modern colloquial use, law-abiding as opposed to criminal. Cf. to go straight at sense C. 5 (b), sense C. 5.The present use (chiefly colloquial) is unconnected with that of the 16–17th centuries.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > rule of law > [adjective] > law-abiding
lawfulc1430
legitime1677
legal1756
law-abiding1839
crimeless1887
straight1977
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 326/1 Strayght, ryght in condycions, juste.
1541–2 Act 33 Hen. VIII c. 15 §1 The..good order strayte and true dealing of the inhabitauntes of the said towne [Manchester].
a1628 J. Preston New Covenant (1634) 233 To describe to you a right and straight man, when his end is right, and his rule is right.
1642 Earl of Leven Let. 28 Nov. in Sc. Jrnl. Topogr. (1848) I. 73/2 I am aboundantly persuaded of your integrity and straught desyres for the peace..of or poor distressed kingdome.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > order > agreement, harmony, or congruity > suitability or appropriateness > [adjective] > fitting or proper
methelyeOE
ylikeeOE
fairOE
i-meteOE
rightOE
becomelyc1175
proper?c1225
featc1325
conablea1340
rightful1340
worthyc1350
pursuanda1375
covenable1382
dignec1385
convenablec1386
thriftyc1386
sittingc1390
comenablea1400
gainlya1400
meeta1400
wortha1400
convenientc1400
meetlya1425
suinga1425
fitc1440
tallc1440
worthyc1450
good1477
dueful?a1527
beseeminga1530
fitting1535
straighta1538
decent1539
answerable1542
becoming1565
condecent1575
becomed1599
respective1605
befittinga1612
comely1617
decorous1664
shape-like1672
beseemly1737
farrantly?1748
fitly1840
in order1850
a1538 T. Starkey Dial. Pole & Lupset (1989) 26 Vertue..schowyth us the ryght use & streght both of helth strenghth & beuty.
c. Of a person: Well-conducted, steady. Chiefly in to keep straight. Also, of a woman: Virtuous, chaste.
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > virtue > purity > chastity > [adjective] > chaste > of women
honesta1400
virtuousa1600
zoned1726
straight1893
tight-assed1903
1853 C. M. Yonge Heir of Redclyffe II. v. 70 If the right motives did not suffice to keep me straight..why then I should be..utterly good for nothing.
1868 A. L. Gordon Let. 6 Oct. in H. G. Turner & A. Sutherland Developm. Austral. Lit. (1898) 200 She tried hard to cheer me up and keep me straight.
1876 ‘Ouida’ In Winter City vi. 125 If only people ‘keep straight’ for the sake only of what other people say of them.
1886 ‘Ouida’ House Party (1887) vii. 163 Do you really think that to have any influence on English public life it is necessary..to keep so very straight, as regards women, I mean, you know?
1890 Pall Mall Gaz. 21 May 5/1 Mr. Dolling amused his audience..by his description of a ‘straight girl,’ i.e., one a young fellow not merely walked out with, but intended to marry.
1893 E. Saltus Madam Sapphira 133 As God is my witness that girl is as straight as your sister.
1894 W. H. Wilkins & H. Vivian Green Bay Tree I. 185 She..meant to marry him in two or three years, if he proved he could keep straight in the meanwhile.
1908 R. Bagot Anthony Cuthbert viii. 83 And, now Jim came to think of it, she had shown that she was ‘straight’. A woman who wasn't would have behaved—well, differently.
d. slang (originally U.S.). Conventional, respectable, socially acceptable. Frequently spec. (a) conventional in sexual behaviour; heterosexual; (b) not using or under influence of drugs; sober, abstinent.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > use of drugs and poison > [adjective] > not using drugs
straight1941
society > society and the community > customs, values, and civilization > customs, values, or beliefs of a society or group > [adjective] > conventional
conventional1761
straight1941
pin-striped1973
the world > physical sensation > sexual relations > sexual orientation > heterosexuality > [adjective] > heterosexual
heterosex1913
normal1914
heterosexual1927
jam1930
hetero1933
het1939
straight1941
non-homosexual1942
hetero1949
1941 G. W. Henry Sex Variants II. 1176 Straight... Also employed as meaning not homosexual. To go straight is to cease homosexual practices and to indulge—usually to re-indulge—in heterosexuality.
1959 M. Zane Easy Living vii. 90 ‘You don't want a slug [of brandy], huh?’ ‘No thanks. I'm straight.’
1960 H. Wentworth & S. B. Flexner Dict. Amer. Slang 524/1 Straight,..honest; normal. Depending on the context, denotes that the person referred to is not dishonest, not a drug addict, not a homosexual, and so forth.
1965 San Francisco Examiner 5 Sept. 5/1 A lot of us have ‘straight’ friends.
1966 A. Young in A. Chapman New Black Voices (1972) 147 Why dont you buy this joint off me so I can be straight for lunch.
1967 Avatar (Boston) Dec. 4/1 Some of us are beginning to wonder who are the ‘freaks’ in this world and who are the ‘straight’ people.
1968 Globe & Mail Mag. (Toronto) 13 Jan. 6/1 Some straight (heterosexual) people also go there to watch the drag show (a floor show put on by men dressed and acting like women).
1971 Psychol. Today May 43/1 I can see patterns, form, figures, meaningful designs in visual material that does not have any particular form when I'm straight.
1971 ‘M. Underwood’ Trout in Milk xx. 167 ‘Every perversion catered for.’.. ‘And what's yours, Mr Slatter?’.. ‘I'm straight.’
1975 N.Y. Times Bk. Rev. 30 Nov. 42/3 A fastidiously distant man without the hint of a sex life, straight or otherwise.
1976 J. Crosby Snake (1977) ix. 43 Few of the revolutionary youth..threw it all up and came back to the straight world.
1978 V. Martin Set in Motion v. 96 I wish I had some dope. I haven't been straight this long in years.
1981 ‘Q. Crisp’ How to become Virgin vi. 88 All his spare attention was given to pointing out which bars were gay or had been gay, which restaurants were straight though run by homosexuals and so on.
7.
a. Not oblique; either vertical or horizontal. Hence, a straight eye: ability to see whether an object is placed straight.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > types of vision > [noun] > ability to see straightness
a straight eye1901
1609 W. Shakespeare Sonnets cxxi. sig. H2 I may be straight though they them-selues be beuel. View more context for this quotation
1864 C. Dickens Our Mutual Friend (1865) I. i. vi. 46 In its whole constitution it had not a straight floor.
1901 Daily News 21 Sept. 6/4 As to the machine stitching, there is very little difficulty about that to anyone who has a straight eye.
1917 N.E.D. at Straight Mod. I don't think that picture is quite straight.
b. Cricket. Of the bat: Held so as not to incline to either side. Frequently in to play a straight bat and variants. Also figurative. Hence, straight play, play with the bat held straight.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > cricket > batting > [noun] > types of batting
blocking1637
quilting1822
defence1825
cutting1827
forward play1828
defensive1832
swiping1833
back-cutting1842
straight play1843
back play1844
sticking1873
leg play1877
off-driving1884
gallery-hitting1888
goose game1899
straight driving1904
stroke-play1905
pad play1906
on-driving1948
stroke-making1956
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > cricket > batting > [adjective] > held straight (of bat)
straight1843
1843 ‘Wykhamist’ Pract. Hints Cricket 7 The secret of all good Batting..is the playing with a straight or upright Bat.
1851 W. Clarke Pract. Hints on Cricket in E. V. Lucas Hambledon Men (1907) 167 By the handle of the bat being nearer the bowler than the blade (always bearing in mind to keep it straight), the ball will be prevented from rising.
1851 J. Pycroft Cricket Field iii. 36 [He] always insisted on keeping the left elbow well up; in other words, on straight play.
1897 Earl of Suffolk et al. Encycl. Sport I. 219/2 [article Cricket] ‘How beautifully straight his bat is!’ is a remark often made about a good batsman. As a matter of fact ‘upright’ would be a more correct term than ‘straight’, but ‘straight’ is the almost invariable epithet.
1944 E. Blunden Cricket Country vii. 79 He simply played the straight-bat game.
1973 Times 11 June 13/7 The British too..owed much of their greatness to their own self-esteem, and to the legend of straight bat, stiff upper lip, probity and detachment.
1975 Times 1 Dec. 5/1 Mr Wilson and Mr Callaghan intend to play a straight bat at the EEC conference.
1979 ‘J. le Carré’ Smiley's People (1980) xiv. 164 When it came to the big stuff he always played a straight bat.
8.
a. Predicatively: In proper order, not ruffled or disarranged. Esp. in colloquial phrase to keep a straight face ( †to keep one's face straight): to refrain from laughing.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > order > [adjective] > in proper order
uprighta1529
untumbled1675
square1825
straight1831
Bristol-fashion1840
kempt1929
the mind > emotion > suffering > dejection > melancholy > seriousness or solemnity > be serious or solemn [verb (intransitive)] > refrain from laughing
to keep one's countenance1470
to keep a straight face1953
1831 Society 1 64 The pleasure of seeing her kept his temper straighter than usual.
1837 T. Carlyle French Revol. II. i. ii. 18 It would make all so straight again.
1847 A. Helps Friends in Council I. vi. 92 I prefer real life..where there is no third volume [as in a novel] to make things straight.
1860 W. M. Thackeray Lovel iii Lay them books straight. Put the volumes together, stupid!
1885 ‘Mrs. Alexander’ Valerie's Fate iii Come and put your hair straight.
1887 P. Fendall Sex to Last III. iii. x. 220 Five minutes' conversation..will set everything straight.
1888 H. Morten Sketches Hosp. Life 73 The small patients lay quiet in their cribs; everything was straight for the night.
1897 Spectator 25 Sept. 408/1 The story..is one which few people, to use an expressive vulgarism, will be able to read ‘with a straight face’.
1953 H. Miller Plexus (1963) iv. 137 All I felt called upon to do was to keep a straight face and pretend that everything was kosher.
1972 J. Porter Meddler & her Murder x. 128 Miss Jones..managed to keep a straight face... The margarine represented a small secret triumph.
1974 Scotsman 22 Apr. p. ix Only in oil can you break off kelly and set down on rams while keeping a straight face.
b. colloquial. Of accounts: Settled up, leaving nothing owing.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > management of money > solvency > [adjective]
afloat1538
straight1613
solvable1647
solvent1653
solvendoa1684
clear1712
holding company1906
self-financing1913
society > trade and finance > payment > payment of debt > [adjective] > paid
straight1613
satisfied1659
1613 in W. H. Stevenson Rec. Borough Nottingham (1889) IV. 316 Southwell pence beinge in arrerage..Maister Hill..shall pay the same..and so to sett ytt straight for this tyme.
1798 T. Morton Speed the Plough (1800) iv. i. 52 Zur Philip did send vor I, about the money I do owe 'un; and said as how he'd make all strait between us.
1900 Westm. Gaz. 12 Apr. 7/1 He goes away with a straight book.
c. Of a person: Having settled one's differences (with another); also, having balanced one's account, ‘even’; free from debt.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > relationship > equality or equivalence > [adjective] > equal or even with someone or something
quit1490
quits1625
straight1730
trick and tie1825
to be evens1844
square1859
peels1881
1730 P. Walkden Diary 8 Apr. (1866) (modernized text) 108 This morning Thomas Harrison had my horse a gate with a load of oats to the Lum..in return for his horse that I had once thither with a load of oats, so that we are now straight in the case.
1894 M. Dyan All in Man's Keeping (1899) 262 She..urged him to strive to get straight once more with his conscience and his God.
1914 F. M. Ford Let. 22 Dec. (1965) 60 Of course if Conrad is not yet straight I don't want to exact this.
1960 Jazz Rev. Sept.–Oct. 14 He was straight at this time—saved his money and everything.
1966 Listener 8 Sept. 335/2 In the ten years after the war we made a huge effort to get straight by austerity and stringent controls.
d. In colloquial phrases, as to get (something) straight, to make (something) clear, to reach an understanding; to keep (someone) straight, to keep (someone) informed.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > information > action of informing > give (information) [verb (transitive)] > inform (a person)
to teach a person a thingc888
meanOE
wiseOE
sayOE
wittera1225
tellc1225
do to witc1275
let witc1275
let seec1330
inform1384
form1399
lerea1400
to wit (a person) to saya1400
learn1425
advertise1431
givec1449
insense?c1450
instruct1489
ascertain1490
let1490
alighta1500
advert1511
signify1523
reform1535
advise1562
partake1565
resolve1568
to do to ware1594
to let into one's knowledge1596
intellect1599
possess1600
acquainta1616
alighten1615
recommenda1616
intelligence1637
apprise1694
appraise1706
introduce1741
avail1785
prime1791
document1807
to put up1811
to put a person au fait of1828
post1847
to keep (someone) straight1862
monish1866
to put next to1896
to put (one) wise (to)1896
voice1898
in the picture1900
to give (someone) a line on1903
to wise up1905
drum1908
hip1932
to fill (someone) in on1945
clue1948
background1961
to mark a person's card1961
to loop in1994
the mind > mental capacity > understanding > understand [verb (transitive)] > reach understanding of
conceive1340
grope1390
tellc1390
catchc1475
reacha1500
make1531
to make sense of1574
to make outa1625
apprehend1631
realize1742
finda1834
reify1854
recognize1879
to get (something) straight1920
to pick up1946
to work out1953
the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > meaning > explanation, exposition > expound, explain [verb (transitive)]
arecchec885
unloukOE
overrunOE
sutelec1000
trahtnec1000
unfolda1050
belayc1175
openc1175
onopena1200
accountc1300
undo?a1366
remenea1382
interpret1382
unwrap1387
exploitc1390
enlumine1393
declarec1400
expoundc1400
unplait?c1400
enperc1420
planea1425
clearc1440
exponec1440
to lay outc1440
to give (also carry) lightc1449
unwind1482
expose1483
reducea1500
manifest1530
explicate1531
explaina1535
unlock?1536
dilucidate1538
elucidate1538
illustrate1538
rechec1540
explicate1543
illucidate1545
enucleate1548
unsnarl1555
commonstrate1563
to lay forth1577
straighten1577
unbroid1577
untwist1577
decipherc1586
illuminate1586
enlighten1587
resolvec1592
cipher1594
eliquidate1596
to take (a person) with one1599
rivelc1600
ravel1604
unbowel1606
unmist1611
extricate1614
unbolta1616
untanglea1616
enode1623
unperplexa1631
perspicuate1634
explata1637
unravel1637
esclarea1639
clarify1642
unweave1642
detenebrate1646
dismystery1652
undecipher1654
unfork1654
unparadox1654
reflect1655
enodate1656
unmysterya1661
liquidatea1670
recognize1676
to clear upa1691
to throw sidelight on1726
to throw (also cast, shed) light on (also upon)1731
eclaircise1754
irradiate1864
unbraid1880
predigest1905
to get (something) straight1920
disambiguate1960
demystify1963
1862 J. Blackwood Let. 17 Mar. in ‘G. Eliot’ Lett. (1956) IV. 22 I suppose there is nothing in your remarks about language to clash with my paper last month. Keep me straight about this.
1920 S. Lewis Main St. xiv. 167 Will,..I must get this straight. Some one said..all the doctors hate each other.
1946 M. Mezzrow & B. Wolfe Really Blues viii. 124 Get this straight, we pure-and-simple jazzmen didn't scoff the ‘serious’ composers.
1946 M. Mezzrow & B. Wolfe Really Blues xi. 194 When he got straight on my version of My Blue Heaven I played the second harmony sax part along with him.
1946 J. B. Priestley Bright Day x. 320 I'm going to risk telling you something... It's all ancient history, but..we might as well get it straight.
e. U.S. slang. Of a drug-user: drugged, ‘high’ (high adj. 19c). Cf. sense A. 6d above.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > use of drugs and poison > effects of drugs > [adjective]
intoxicated1576
drunk1585
besotted1831
drugged1871
dopey1896
doped1903
piped1906
lit1912
loaded1923
high1932
polluted1938
stone1945
straight1946
impaired1951
on the nod1951
buzzed1952
stoned1953
hung1958
strung out1959
zonked1959
shot1964
out of (also off) one's bird1966
ripped1966
wiped1966
amped1967
tanked1968
wrecked1968
whacked out1969
wired1970
jagged1973
funked up1976
annihilated1980
junked out1982
obliterated1984
caned1992
wankered1992
twatted1993
1946 M. Mezzrow & B. Wolfe Really Blues xii. 217 I know I'm gonna get straight now, I know you gonna put me on.
1951 Life 11 June 120/1 While the cops were in the apartment they seized five teen-agers who came up to be put straight.
1965 Life 26 Feb. 86/4 Once the addict has had his shot and is ‘straight’ he may become admirably, though briefly, industrious.
1971 E. E. Landy Underground Dict. 178 Straight,..1...off drugs; clean. 2. A drug addict will use the word ‘straight’ to mean to use a drug—eg. I've got to get straight.
9. Originally U.S.
a. Unmixed, undiluted; of spirits, ‘neat’. Also qualifying a designation of a political party: Strict, rigid, extreme. to vote the straight ticket: to vote for all the official candidates of one's party; also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > state or quality of being simple, unmixed, or uncompounded > [adjective]
shirec888
unmengedeOE
mereeOE
perfecta1393
unmeddleda1425
impermixta1475
unmingled1545
unpermixedc1545
sincere1546
unintermixed1595
immixt1622
untinct1646
single-fold1651
meracious1657
beaten1670
simple1818
pure1831
straight1856
the world > food and drink > drink > intoxicating liquor > distilled drink > [adjective] > neat
neat1578
naked1824
straight1856
the world > relative properties > wholeness > state or quality of being simple, unmixed, or uncompounded > [adjective] > composed of one part > specifically of immaterial things
uncompounded1650
direct1668
square1804
straight1856
society > authority > rule or government > politics > party politics > groups or attitudes right to left > [adjective] > extreme
high?1535
ultra1820
hard right1846
straight1856
extremist1907
extremistic1921
loony1977
society > authority > office > appointment to office > choosing or fact of being chosen for office > election of representative body by vote > proceedings at election > [verb (intransitive)] > vote in specific way
to vote plump1742
plump1806
to split one's (or the) ticket or ballot1842
to vote the straight ticket1856
repeat1876
1856 N.Y. Courier & Enquirer Sept. The present candidate of the straight Whigs for the Vice-Presidency.
1857 N.Y. Times 14 Oct. The straight Republican Convention is to meet to-morrow.
1862 J. R. Morris in Congr. Globe 7 July 3158/3 I supported the straight Democratic ticket.
1865 Visct. Milton & W. B. Cheadle N.-W. Passage by Land (1867) ii. 33 As a Yankee would express it, they were geese and ducks ‘straight’—i.e., without anything else whatever.
1873 C. G. Leland Egyptian Sketch-bk. 146 Pains have been taken to add ornament, though every other structure near it be of mud ‘straight’—or unmingled and plain.
1874 Hotten's Slang Dict. (rev. ed.) 312 Straight, an American phrase peculiar to dram-drinkers; similar to our word neat.
1879 A. W. Tourgée Fool's Errand vii. 28 I allers did like my liquor clar,—clar an' straight.
1892 W. Pike Barren Ground N. Canada 128 We had bread at every meal, which is in itself a luxury after four months of straight meat.
1901 W. Churchill Crisis viii. 432 Stephen had never learned to like straight whiskey.
1934 J. O'Hara Appointment in Samarra (1935) vi. 171 You want ginger ale with yours, or straight?
1940 H. G. Wells Babes in Darkling Wood ii. iii. 194 She'll give up the ice, I expect, and settle down to straight Martini and gin.
1950 ‘D. Divine’ King of Fassarai xv. 119 ‘I'd like a coke.’.. ‘Little rum in it?’.. ‘Straight coke.’
1977 M. Hinxman One-way Cemetery xx. 146 She handed him his glass. ‘Soda?’ ‘Straight.’
1979 Guardian 30 Oct. 10/4 People who vote the straight green ticket—rucksacks, sperm whales, recycling, and free-range hens.
b. straight poker, straight whist, etc.: the game in its unmodified form. straight four, straight five, straight six, straight flush: see quots.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > card game > card or cards > [noun] > combinations of cards
cater-trey?a1500
mournival1530
sequence1575
pair royal1608
septieme1651
tierce1659
pair1674
purtaunte1688
quart major1718
matrimonya1743
queen-suit1744
quart1746
prial1776
flux1798
fredon1798
tricon1798
intrigue1830
straight1841
marriage1861
under-sequence1863
straight five1864
double pair-royal?1870
run?1870
short suit1876
four1883
fourchette1885
meld1887
doubleton1906
canasta1948
society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > card game > poker > [noun] > varieties of
vaunt1598
brag1734
draw poker1847
penny ante1855
freeze-out1856
draw1857
straight poker1864
stud poker1864
mistigris1875
highball1878
whisky-poker1878
stud-horse poker1881
stud horse1882
stud1884
showdown poker1892
show poker1895
red dog1919
showdown1927
strip-poker1929
manilla1930
Hold 'Em1964
Texas Hold 'Em1968
pai gow poker1985
society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > card game > whist > [noun] > varieties of
whisk and swabbers1699
twelfth whist1752
Boston1800
short1825
long1832
dummy whist1843
preference1852
solo whistc1875
hearts1884
drive whist1885
cayenne whist1887
duplicate whist1891
duplicate1894
straight whist1901
1864 W. B. Dick Amer. Hoyle 167 It [sc. Twenty-Deck Poker] is controlled by the same rules as Common or Straight Poker.
1882 Poker; how to play it 56 A Straight Flush (that is, a sequence of five cards, all of the same suit).
1882 Poker; how to play it 72 Straight Poker or Bluff, as it is sometimes called, is played with a pack of fifty-two cards.
1895 G. J. Manson Sporting Dict. Straight Five, a sequence or rotation of fives.
1895 G. J. Manson Sporting Dict. Straight Four.
1901 R. F. Foster Bridge Man. (new ed.) Introd. p. xi Bridge..has completely taken the place of straight whist.
c. Of a grade of flour (see quots.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > flour > [adjective] > qualities of
wholemeal1795
strong1819
ergoted1841
self-rising1853
straight1859
whole-grain1870
weak1889
1859 J. R. Bartlett Dict. Americanisms (ed. 2) 454 Straight, even or uniform in quality. A term used in Commerce, and particularly among flour-dealers.
1883 E. Ingersoll in Harper's Mag. June 78/1 Bakers..use what is known as ‘wheat’ or ‘straight’ flour, which is the product of the five reductions, all the subsequent processes through which the middlings pass in making fine flour being omitted.
d. Music. Applied to a kind of jazz characterized by adherence to a score or set orchestration and a lack of improvisation, or to a player of this kind of jazz. Also, of music or a musician: ‘serious’ or dance-band as opposed to jazz; = legitimate adj. 1d(b).
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > type of music > [adjective] > classical or serious
classical1829
legit1908
legitimate1913
straight1926
longhair1938
serious1960
society > leisure > the arts > music > type of music > jazz > [adjective] > types of
Chicagoan1861
bad1897
hot1918
red-hot1918
soft1921
low-down1922
sweet1924
barrel-house1926
New Orleans1926
straight1926
crazy1927
dirty1927
hotcha1930
jungle1935
solid1935
traditional jazz1935
powerhouse1937
gutty1939
riffy1939
jivey1944
Kansas City1946
cool1948
West Coast1949
far-out1954
nutty1955
swinging1955
mainstream1957
Afro-Latin1958
1926 Melody Maker Feb. 15/2 His father was..one of the finest ‘straight’ saxophonists in the world.
1927 Melody Maker Apr. 329/3 The band is well drilled..but relies on stereotyped orchestration and ‘straight’ rendering. Moreover, there is nothing like enough solo work.
1928 Gramophone 6 300/2 It is not a question of ‘hot’ dance music or ‘straight’ dance music.
1934 S. R. Nelson All about Jazz ii. 40 This training is very useful where an orchestra has played for the cabaret, or any diversion where ‘straight’ music is employed.
1936 Swing Music Apr. 37/1 Red Nichols was..a great ‘straight’ jazz trumpet.
1938 Oxf. Compan. Music 777/2 It appears that the terms Straight Jazz (or Sweet Jazz) and Hot Jazz apply respectively to jazz played as written and jazz in which the extempore element is prominent.
1947 Penguin Music Mag. May 28 Antony Hopkins has been much more affected by the jazz element in other ‘straight’ composers' works than by the original thing.
1961 Guardian 16 Mar. 11/1 [He] is a ‘straight’ musician with some experience of jazz.
1971 Daily Tel. 20 Jan. 10/6 A programme which covered fields as diverse as Renaissance polyphony, newly-commissioned music, both straight and jazzy, and swinging close-harmony arrangements.
e. Of animals: pure-bred. Cf. straight-bred adj. at Compounds 2b of the adverb below.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > domestic animal > [adjective] > of livestock > kept for breeding > well-bred
gentle?a1300
true-bred1607
well-bred1607
racy1676
bred1710
high-bred1731
full-blood1764
full-blooded1784
thoroughbred1788
pure blood1818
toppy1893
straight-bred1898
straight1972
1972 P. Newton Sheep Thief x. 80 They were straight merinos and pretty touchy to handle.
10.
a. Theatre. ‘Serious’ as opposed to popular or comic. Cf. legitimate adj. 1b.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > the theatre or the stage > [adjective] > types of performance
straight1895
intimate1915
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > drama > acting > [adjective] > other types of acting
straight1895
Protean1946
1895 N.Y. Dramatic News 6 July 2/1 Trilby is the only ‘straight’ theatrical entertainment now left in New York.
1908 Variety 16 May 15/1 A steady succession of comedy numbers..gave the two ‘straight’ acts closing the bill an almost impossible task to accomplish.
1928 Observer 1 Jan. 11/4 Miss Gertrude Lawrence will then make her first appearance in ‘straight’ drama.
1928 Punch 23 May 582/3 The character-actors have no doubt an easier task than the ‘straight’ actors.
1932 Daily Express 27 June 3/3 Being determined to go into straight plays, she learned some poetry.
1937 Sunday Express 21 Feb. 21/5 Luckily he has Naunton Wayne handling his best lines, revealing in his first straight part an easy sense of situation and character to back up his known comedy brilliance.
1959 H. Pinter Birthday Party i. 4 This is a straight show... No dancing or singing... They just talk.
1970 Guardian 19 Aug. 6/4 Feldman..has since appeared as a straight man..in a couple of Johnny Speight TV plays.
1981 V. Glendinning Edith Sitwell xi. 151 Edith..loved music halls, which she preferred to the straight theatre.
b. Vaudeville. Applied to a performer who assumes a passive role as a feeder (feeder n. 11) or butt for a comedian; also transferred.
ΚΠ
1923 N.Y. Times 15 July vi. 1/6 The method of the comedy team remains more or less unvaried. The team is composed, in the first place, of a comedian and a ‘straight’ man.
1933 P. Godfrey Back-stage iii. 37 The music-hall cross-talk act, where one of the characters is ‘straight’ and the other the comedian.
1957 Oxf. Compan. Theatre (ed. 2) 106/1 The comedian..was assisted also..by..the straight man or ‘feeder’, who was dressed in perfect evening attire.
1961 Sunday Express 18 June 19/1 For eight years he had been ‘straight man’ to Sid Field, one of the great comics.
1973 R. Hill Ruling Passion ii. ii. 101 Pascoe looked doubtful. He was used to playing Dalziel's straight man.
1979 J. Barnett Backfire is Hostile! i. 26 Smith knew he was being used as a straight man but played along with it.
c. Applied to a ‘serious’ novel, film, etc. which employs the conventional techniques of its art form.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > prose > narrative or story > novel > [adjective] > types of novel
picaresque1822
Gothic1825
Minerva press1843
yellow1843
western1846
bluggy1876
cape and sword (also cape and cloak)1898
Mills & Boon1912
straight1936
blockbusting1943
Mills and Boony1946
private eye1946
police procedural1957
thrillerish1957
porno-Gothic1968
romantic1977
neo-noir1986
bonkbusting1993
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > cinematography > a film > type of film > [adjective] > other types
costumed1851
foreign language1904
first run1910
Keystone1912
photodramatic1914
serial1915
coming of age1919
edge-of-your-seat1922
psychodramatic1927
omnibus1928
straight1936
low-budget1937
no-budget1937
screwball1937
Ealing1939
blockbusting1943
private eye1946
film noir1952
white telephone1952
portmanteau1953
uncut1953
anthology1955
three-D1955
Hammer1958
noir1958
co-production1959
kitchen sink1959
kidult1960
docudrama1961
cinéma vérité1963
maudit1963
filmi1965
indie1968
triple-X1969
XXX1969
drama-documentary1970
cheapie1973
gross-out1973
high concept1973
chopsocky1974
hard R1974
buddy movie1975
sci-fi1977
mondo1979
hack-and-slash1981
microbudget1981
hack-and-slay1982
slice-and-dice1982
fly on the wall1983
psychotronic1983
noirish1985
Mad Max1986
stoner1987
bonkbusting1993
straight to DVD1997
1936 ‘J. Tey’ Shilling for Candles vi. 59 She was at that time shooting her first straight film.
1942 H. Haycraft Murder for Pleasure ix. 203 Mr. Carr-Dickson..has been an incomparable boon to the English ‘straight’ detective story.
1953 A. Upfield Murder must Wait x. 90 I write..straight novels, not these beastly thrillers.
1977 Listener 30 June 866/4 Most crime reviewers have..been arraigned by novelists who think they would have got better treatment in straight novel columns.
1981 F. McShane in R. Chandler Sel. Lett. p. xv He..rendered the actualities of American life as vividly and independently as any ‘straight’ novelist.
B. n.
1. The adjective used absol. (quasi-n.) in certain phrases.† a. upon straight: upright, erect. Obsolete.† d. to take the straight (in measurement): to measure in a straight line. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > posture > upright or erect posture > [adverb]
uprightsa1375
branta1400
straight up1535
upon straightc1540
uprightly1601
erectly1646
streck up1790
aprick1856
c1540 (?a1400) Destr. Troy 3841 Burthen hade ynoghe The fete of þat freke to ferke hym aboute, Or stond vppo streght for his strong charge.
b. on the straight: (a) along a straight line, not following irregularities of contour; (b) parallel with the side, as opposed to ‘on the cross’ = diagonally; (c) slang behaving reputably.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > direction > in the direction that [phrase] > straight
on the straight1663
the world > space > relative position > state or position of being parallel > parallel with the side [phrase]
on the straight1894
1663 B. Gerbier Counsel to Builders 48 Work rated on running measure, and on the straight.
1894 Paris Mode I. 31/2 It is usually cut on the cross... The material is folded over to form a triangle, and in anything cut out of it in this position the threads run differently to what is cut on the straight.
1900 E. Wallace Writ in Barracks 103 O the garden it is lovely—That's when Jerry's on the straight!
c. out of straight: deviating from the required straight form or position; not duly rectilinear, level, or perpendicular; awry.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > misshapenness > out of shape [phrase]
out of fashion1551
out of square1576
on (or in) a throwa1585
out of straight1678
out of shape1696
the world > space > relative position > inclination > obliquely [phrase] > askew
on or upon wry1423
clean cam (kam)1579
out of straight1678
on the jee1893
1678 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises I. iv. 66 You have the less danger that the Joynt is wrought out of straight.
1683 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises II. 144 He may find out whether either or both of the Carriages are out of straight.
1861 H. Mayhew London Labour (new ed.) III. 24/1 The bone broke..and in growing together again it got out of straight.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > measurement > measurement of length > measure length [verb (intransitive)] > to measure in a straight line
to take the straight1805
1805 State, Fraser of Fraserfield 186 (Jam.) That the distance..taking the straight, and leaving the small angles and turns of the banks unnoticed, is about 2060 feet.
e. the straight: the truth. Esp. in to get (at) or hear the straight. U.S.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > [noun]
soothc950
soothOE
rightOE
soothnessc1275
soothness1297
soothshipc1320
soothhead1340
very1382
trotha1387
trutha1391
verity1422
veriment1528
true?1531
trueness1559
veriness1574
reality1604
veracity1664
veridicalness1727
the fact of the matter1808
truthfulness1835
actualité1840
the straight1866
satya1879
straight goods1892
veridicalitya1901
truth value1903
dinky1941
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > in truth [interjection]
by (formerly also upon) my truthc1330
i'faitha1375
sootha1400
truth1534
good faitha1566
trotha1616
n'est-ce pas1854
nicht wahr1871
the straight1900
verdad1969
1866 C. H. Smith Bill Arp, so Called 35 You should git the straight of it from one who seen it with his eyes.
1900 E. A. Dix Deacon Bradbury 266 You've heared th' straight of it, Mr. Leavitt.
1902 G. H. Lorimer Lett. Merchant xviii. 271 No one except the widow ever really got at the straight of Bud's conduct.
1951 H. Giles Harbin's Ridge xviii. 161 I wanted to get the straight about this piece of land Faleecy John wanted.
1977 ‘L. Egan’ Blind Search iii. 38 Tell you something, I never heard the straight of that anyway.
1982 ‘W. R. Duncan’ Queen's Messenger xxv. 372 It will be recorded properly in the archives... The straight of it will exist.
2. A straight form or position; a level.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > straightness > [noun]
rightnesseOE
rectitude?a1425
straightness1530
directness1598
straighta1644
the world > space > relative position > horizontal position or condition > [noun]
levela1400
straighta1644
horizontality1753
horizontalism1848
horizontalness1869
a1644 F. Quarles Solomons Recantation (1645) i. 2 Not all this knowledge can reduce the state Of crooked nature to a perfect Straight.
1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory (1905) iii. xviii. 142/1 Mounture the Morter, elevate the mouth of it from a streight to such a degree of height as is necessary for the slinging or casting out of the granado to the distance or place required.
1812 P. Nicholson Mech. Exercises 142 Winding Sticks are..for the purpose of ascertaining whether a surface be straight or not, if not, the surface must be brought to a straight by trial.
1904 W. M. Gallichan Fishing & Trav. Spain 162 The rod flew back to the straight, and the line came mournfully limp to the bank. A grand fish lost!
3.
a. A straight portion, e.g. of a race-course (see quot. 18972), railway, or road; also figurative. straight of breadth (Nautical): see quot. 1846; back straight: see back-straight n. at back- comb. form 2; Cf. home straight n., stretch n. 8.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > straightness > [noun] > that which is straight
straight1846
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > parts of vessels > body of vessel > [noun] > part of uniform breadth
straight of breadth1846
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > racing or race > [noun] > course or track > parts of
run-in1799
quarter-stretch1830
home run1833
hurdle1833
back stretch1839
home stretch1841
straight1846
last lap1848
straightaway1878
home straight1880
stretch1895
back-straight1905
the wall1974
society > travel > means of travel > route or way > way, path, or track > road > parts of road > [noun] > straight part
straight1953
straightaway1957
1846 A. Young Naut. Dict. 325 Straight of breadth, in shipbuilding, the space before, at, and abaft the dead-flat, in which the ship is of the same uniform breadth.
1864 Field 16 July 41/2 Three-quarters of a mile from home Fisher~man's Daughter began to draw up to the leaders; on entering the straight she went up to Spitfire Kitty, and heading her..went on with the lead.
1894 S. R. Crockett Raiders xlii. 355 The beast that hunted me gaining ever on the straight, and I at the turnings.
1897 Daily News 13 Sept. 7/2 Then there are frequent and long stretches of ‘straight,’ that delight of the railway engineer.
1897 Earl of Suffolk et al. Encycl. Sport I. 62/2 (Athletics) Straight, the section of the track between the last bend and the winning post.
1903 T.P.'s Weekly 2 Jan. 248/1 Good, I'm in the straight now!.. Thank Heaven that's done.
1913 Times 1 Sept. 12/1 Seremond..retained his place, and when presently the field turned into the straight he was still in front.
1953 K. Amis Lucky Jim i. 15 The car darted forward on to the straight.
1968 P. Dickinson Weathermonger iv. 59 You'll have to do the map-reading... I'll teach you as soon as we come to a safe bit of straight where we can't get surprised.
1976 West Lancs. Evening Gaz. 13 Dec. 9/1 (advt.) Scalextric, including pits, chicane, straights, 90 degree.
b. Aeronautics. A run or flight in a straight line (without turning).
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > air or space travel > [noun] > a flight through air or space > in a straight line
straight1911
1911 Aeroplane 19 Oct. 471/2 In evening Sabelli rolling and Richey doing straights on brevet machine, the latter damaging chassis slightly in landing.
1914 H. Rosher In Royal Naval Air Service (1916) i. 20 Yesterday I did five straights (straight flights) alone.
4. Geometry. A straight line. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > geometry > line > [noun] > straight
linec1400
straight1892
1892 G. B. Halsted Elem. Synth. Geom. 4 The intersection of two planes is called a straight line, or simply a straight.
1904 G. B. Halsted Rational Geom. 3 Two distinct straights cannot have two points in common.
5.
a. In Poker and other games: A series of five cards in sequence but not of the same suit. inside straight, four cards which will form a straight if a fifth card of a particular value is added.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > card game > card or cards > [noun] > combinations of cards
cater-trey?a1500
mournival1530
sequence1575
pair royal1608
septieme1651
tierce1659
pair1674
purtaunte1688
quart major1718
matrimonya1743
queen-suit1744
quart1746
prial1776
flux1798
fredon1798
tricon1798
intrigue1830
straight1841
marriage1861
under-sequence1863
straight five1864
double pair-royal?1870
run?1870
short suit1876
four1883
fourchette1885
meld1887
doubleton1906
canasta1948
society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > card game > poker > [noun] > type of hand > combinations of cards
triplet1864
royal flush1868
bobtailed flush1873
bobtail flush1875
skip1880
royal straight1883
four flush1887
skip straight1887
inside straight1934
1841 Spirit of Times 1 May 102/1 This last name [sc. Falsefu] is taken from the players of twenty-deck poker, and is used by them to represent a ‘straight’, or ace, king, queen, jack, and ten.
1866 C. H. Smith Bill Arp, so Called 39 The Yankees had a strait, which would have taken Forrest and raked down the pile.
1882 Poker; how to play it 16 A Sequence (sometimes called a ‘straight’).
1882 Poker; how to play it 55 If more than one player holds a straight, the straight headed by the highest card wins.
1894 J. N. Maskelyne ‘Sharps & Flats’ 84 A ‘four’; which can only be beaten when ‘straights’ are played by a ‘straight flush’—in other words, a sequence of five cards, all of the same suit.
1897 R. F. Foster Compl. Hoyle 182 (Poker) In straights, the highest card of the sequence wins.
1909 ‘O. Henry’ Roads of Destiny xiii. 210 He always would play jack, queen, king, ace, deuce for a straight.
1934 M. Ellinger Poker 163 The odds against filling an inside straight flush are 3 to 1.
1951 Amer. Speech 26 99/2 Inside straight, a possible straight which is open in the middle, for example: 4-5- -7-8. It takes a gut shot to hit it.
1968 V. Nabokov King, Queen, Knave p. ix I can only hope that my good old partners, replete with full houses and straights, will think I am bluffing.
1977 G. V. Higgins Dreamland i. 11 Never draw to an inside straight.
b. Shooting. A perfect score, with every shot fired making a hit.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > competitive shooting > [noun] > score in match > perfect score
possible1866
straight1903
1903 Forest & Stream 21 Feb. 160/1 In the 10-bird event Wade..and Curran each made a straight.
1931 L. B. Smith Better Trapsmanship vii. 101 In the Atlantic Indian shoot in September, 1927, there were two 100 straights turned in for the championship.
1976 Shooting Mag. Dec. 36/2 Three more straights [in skeet shooting] were shot by Minards, P. Spear and J. Cording.
6. slang.
a. Originally U.S. Unadulterated or very strong whisky. Cf. sense A. 9a.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > intoxicating liquor > distilled drink > whisky > [noun] > other whiskies
peat-reek1792
Monongahela1805
rye?1808
corn1820
small-still (whisky)1822
bald-face1840
corn-whiskey1843
raw1844
Bourbon1846
sod corn1857
valley tan1860
straight1862
forty-rod whisky1863
rock and rye1878
sour-mash1885
grain-whisky1887
forty rod lightning1889
Suntory1942
Wild Turkey1949
mash1961
pot still1994
1862 Harper's Mag. Aug. 312/1 [The] primer was simply a gill of Bourbon straight.
1905 ‘O. Henry’ in N.Y. World Mag. 12 Nov. 8/1 I managed to soak in a little straight.
1928 Collier's 29 Dec. 42/2 There is Juarez whisky, for instance. It is sometimes called ‘American Straight’.
b. A cigarette, esp. one containing ordinary tobacco as opposed to marijuana.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > use of drugs and poison > tobacco > smoking > articles or materials used in smoking > [noun] > thing which may be smoked > cigarette
cigarito1832
paper cigar1833
cigarette1842
papelito1845
coffin-nailc1865
fag1885
butt1893
pill1901
scag1915
nail1925
quirly1932
tab1934
burn1941
draw1946
tube1946
snout1950
cancer stick1958
straight1959
ciggy1962
square1970
bifter1989
lung dart1990
dart2000
1923 J. Manchon Le Slang 296 A straight = a straighter = a straight cut, une cigarette en tabac de Virginie.]
1959 Esquire Nov. 70 j Straight,..an ordinary cigarette.
1973 W. Tute Resident iii. 53 ‘I..never will be a dope head. I don't drop and I don't smoke—except straights.’ ‘You mean ordinary cigarettes?’ ‘Yes.’
1977 Radio Times 1 Apr. 41/4 Straights, cigarettes.
7.
a. Vaudeville. A stooge; a ‘straight’ performer (see sense A. 10b).
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > performance of jester or comedian > [noun] > jester or comedian > straight man
stooge1929
straight1933
feeder1957
1933 P. Godfrey Back-stage xviii. 228 They had teamed up together, with Dora doing the ‘straight’ and Fred the red-nosed comedy stuff.
1941 J. P. Marquand H. M. Pulham, Esq. xxix. 312 ‘A straight,’ Bill said. ‘Don't you know what a straight is? A straight's someone in a skit who has all the jokes thrown at him.’
b. In absolute use of the adjective (sense A. 6d): one who conforms to the conventions of society; one who does not take drugs; a heterosexual. slang (originally U.S.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > use of drugs and poison > [noun] > drug-user > non-user
non-user1850
straight1967
the world > physical sensation > sexual relations > sexual orientation > heterosexuality > [noun] > person
heterosexual1892
normal1910
hetero1940
non-homosexual1960
straight1967
het1971
breeder1975
the world > action or operation > behaviour > a standard of conduct > [noun] > acting according to some standard, fashion, etc. > one who > to the conventions of society
straight1967
1967 Observer 4 Dec. (Colour Suppl.) 28 Straight, conventional person, one who does not use cannabis.
1967 W. Breedlove & J. Breedlove Swinging Set xii. 146 The easy atmosphere..the abundant evidence of abundant wealth attract not only ‘straights’, but a variety of sexual thrill~seekers.
1968 J. D. MacDonald Pale Grey for Guilt (1969) xii. 152 We don't bug the straights and why shouldn't they leave us alone?
1969 Gandalf's Garden iv. 25/2 George King..has spent his life in a service that causes Straights to back away muttering ‘crack-pot’.
c1971 Come Together iii. 7/1 I have danced with a boy at a straight party where we were the only two gay people and the straights were looking at us.
1974 ‘K. Royce’ Trap Spider vii. 111 ‘I'm not having the stink of pot in this place.’.. ‘You straights are all the same.’
1974 K. Millett Flying (1975) iii. 279 Unctuous homosexual eager to prove its human worth to these archetypical straights.
1977 Gay News 24 Mar. 10/4 It was a campaign shared and supported by a number of gays—even straights.
1980 Daily Mirror 10 Apr. 13/4 Straights prefer ‘mums and dads’ type pop music made by bands like Boomtown Rats, Blondie and, more recently, Police.
8. A shoe designed to be worn on either foot.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > footwear > shoe or boot > shoe > [noun] > types of > other
high shoea1387
patten1390
nine1599
foot glove1720
nullifier1840
mud-scow1863
sew-round1885
trilby1895
Buster Brown1904
straight1934
1934 Times 5 Feb. 13/5 In the seventeenth century men's and women's shoes and slippers seem without exception to be straights.
1968 J. Ironside Fashion Alphabet 125 During the Dark Ages, shoes were cut as ‘straights’, both shoes having the identical shape.
1976 Sunday Post (Glasgow) 26 Dec. 6/5 My late father used to tell of bootmaking in his young day. People ordering footwear had to say they wanted a right and left. Otherwise they were supplied with ‘straights’, which fitted either foot.
C. adv.Certain similative phrases, as straight as a dart, straight as a stick, etc., which primarily belong to the adjective, are sometimes used colloquially in various senses of the adverb to which they have no pertinence.† 4. As an intensive (= stark adv.) in straight blind, straight dead. Obsolete.
1. In a straight course or line.† d. With reference to position. Directly (opposite), due (east, etc.). Obsolete.
a. In a straight course; directly to or from a place; without deviation or circuit; by the shortest way. Also in modified sense (often indistinguishable from sense A. 2): Without any intermediate destination or interruption of journey.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > a straight course > [adverb]
forth847
righteOE
forthrighta1000
rightlyOE
anonOE
evenc1300
even-forthc1300
straight13..
streck13..
gainc1330
streckly1340
right fortha1382
straightly1395
evenly?c1400
outrightc1400
straightway1461
endlong1470
fair1490
directly1513
fulla1529
forth on1529
straightforth1530
directedly1539
aright?a1560
direct1568
endways1575
point-blank1607
progressivelya1716
unswervingly1805
straightforward1809
undeviatingly1812
undeviously1813
slap1829
arrow-straight1831
13.. Bonaventura's Medit. 1122 Se cryst aftyr hys deþ: For þy synne streyght to helle he geþ.
c1374 G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde ii. 1461 But to his neces hous, as streyt as lyne, He com.
a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) l. 3592 Þe Kinges sone..gart his [stede] goo, and streiȝet to him rides.
14.. Hymns Virg. & Christ 13 For myȝtili þou roos, & ran Streiȝt vnto þi fadir in trone.
c1440 Ps. Penit. (1894) 58 Delyvere me lord from my fon felle, For straught to the yfled am y.
?c1450 in G. J. Aungier Hist. & Antiq. Syon Monastery (1840) 284 He schal not come at the seyd grate, but he schal go streghte into the monastery.
1487 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (St. John's Cambr.) xiv. 22 Till Irland held he straucht his way.
c1500 Melusine (1895) xix. 69 Hold strayte this way and ye shal not mys of it.
c1515 Ld. Berners tr. Bk. Duke Huon of Burdeux (1882–7) lxiv. 220 There shall ye fynde your brother Huon, who is come strayte fro beyond ye see.
1528 T. More Dialogue Heresyes iv, in Wks. 271/2 They make a vysage as though they came streight from heauen to teache them a newe better waye.
c1540 (?a1400) Destr. Troy 959 Jason..stird ouer the streame streght to þe lond.
a1648 Ld. Herbert Life (1976) 70 This piece of Eloquence moved me so much that I went straight to his Excellency.
1687 A. Lovell tr. J. de Thévenot Trav. into Levant i. 204 When we had seen all these things, we took our way streight to Jerusalem.
1704 J. Swift Full Acct. Battel between Bks. in Tale of Tub 253 Fame..fled up strait to Jupiter.
1724 A. Ramsay Vision in Ever Green I. xxvii He mountit upwarts..Straicht to the milkie way.
1845 B. Disraeli Sybil II. iv. vi. 218 The nearest way to it is straight along this street.
1858 J. W. Carlyle Lett. II. 380 Are you going straight to London?
1876 G. O. Trevelyan Life & Lett. Macaulay I. i. 16 The captain..brought a party of sailors straight to the Governor's house.
b. with adverbs, †forth (obsolete), forward, on.
ΚΠ
a1400 Minor Poems from Vernon MS xxiii. 200 Þat vr fot mowe þen go Streiht forþ wiþ-outen lettyng.
c1450 J. Capgrave Life St. Augustine (1910) 34 With þe next wynd he and his felauchip sailed streit on-to Cartage.
1535 W. Stewart tr. H. Boethius Bk. Cron. Scotl. (1858) II. 441 Fra Striuiling straucht on to the Eist se.
1782 F. Burney Cecilia V. ix. iii. 36 When felicity is before us..we proceed strait forward.
1876 J. Saunders Lion in Path iii He went straight on to the noble palace that had been placed at the service of James II some few years before.
1887 J. Ashby-Sterry Cucumber Chron. 7 She tells me, I am to keep round to the right and go straight on. I follow her directions and pass by the Priory.
c. In a straight line, not crookedly.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > straightness > [adverb]
line-rightc1400
straight1530
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 842/2 Strayt, nat crokedly, droyt.
1538 T. Elyot Dict. Adamussim, by rule, streight as a lyne.
1576 G. Gascoigne Steele Glas 718 O that al kings, would..Hold euermore, one finger streight stretcht out, To thrust in eyes, of all their master theeues.
1663 Marquis of Worcester Cent. Names & Scantlings Inventions §76 To write in the dark as streight as by day or candle~light.
1710 J. Swift Jrnl. to Stella 3 Nov. (1948) I. 80 I cannot write straighter in bed, so you must be content.
1875 B. Jowett tr. Plato Dialogues (ed. 2) V. 346 The drunken man..cannot be expected to walk straight either in body or mind.
1912 Wakeling Forged Egypt. Antiq. ix. 102 It is not correctly shaped and should not be cut straight off across the bottom.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > direction > [adverb] > straight or due
rightOE
rightlyOE
evenc1300
plata1450
plain1509
straight1512
directly1513
fulla1529
flat1531
due?1574
dead1800
slap1829
plunk1866
squarely1883
1512 Act 4 Hen. VIII c. 1 §1 The haven of Brest lyeth streight ayenst the South see costes of..Cornwall.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 823/1 Strayght over agaynste,..vis a vis.
1820 G. Belzoni Narr. Egypt & Nubia ii. 237 The tomb faces the north-east, and the direction of the whole runs straight south-west.
e. In a straight direction; not obliquely; directly to a mark or object, or following a moving object without deviation.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > direction > [adverb] > straight or due > straight or in a straight line
straightly1395
line-rightc1400
evenlonga1475
fair1490
straight1535
lineally1536
point-blank1607
straightwards1644
straightish1683
rectilinearly1729
straightways1772
linearly1881
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Prov. iv. C Let thine eye lyddes loke straight before the.
1552 Abp. J. Hamilton Catech. i. i. f. 5 A man or a woman can nocht..gyde his lyif euin and strecht to the plesour of God without direction of the commandis.
1601 Reg. Mag. Sig. Scot. 449/1 Discending eist the said gait lineallie throche the lie, straucht throw the Brounfauld.
1638 F. Junius Painting of Ancients 27 The statues..standing in a lifelesse posture with..their hands hanging straight downe.
1669 S. Sturmy Mariners Mag. i. ii. 4 When you espy any Island,..by looking straight upon the Compass, you shall know upon what Point of the Compass the Object beareth from you.
1678 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises I. v. 95 And straight through the Stuff, as Work-men call it; that is, in a Geometrical term perpendicularly through the upper and underside.
1812 Sporting Mag. 39 187 The combatants hit strait with one hand at the head.
1821 W. Scott Kenilworth II. ii. 25 Each..looked straight upon the wall which was opposite to them, without speaking to his companion.
1833 J. Nyren Young Cricketer's Tutor 13 If such accident should happen, and the ball have been delivered straight to the wicket.
1857 G. A. Lawrence Guy Livingstone iii. 17 He not only went straight as a die, but rode to hounds instead of over them.
1865 A. Trollope Hunting Sketches 8 And he will ride this year!.. He will ride straight.
1886 R. L. Stevenson Kidnapped iv. 28 He..looked this time straight into my eyes.
1890 A. Conan Doyle White Company viii I am a man who shoots straight at his mark.
1896 G. A. Henty At Agincourt i. 3 There is not one of his age who can send an arrow so straight to the mark.
1907 J. H. Patterson Man-eaters of Tsavo xxvii. 299 Our party of five, including one lady who rode and shot equally straight.
f. With additional notion, which sometimes becomes the substantive sense: All the way, continuously to the end; ‘right’ across, through, etc. †Also with reference to time.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > duration > [adverb] > throughout the whole of a period
longc1275
straight1446
all alongc1450
anytime?1589
the world > relative properties > wholeness > completeness > [adverb] > fully or to full extent or in full > from beginning to end
througha1225
overc1400
throughoutc1450
thoroughc1475
throughly1531
straight1756
1446 J. Lydgate Two Nightingale Poems i. 198 Fro morow to nyght be-tokenes All the tyme, Syth thou wast born streyght tyll þat thou dye.
1756 T. Nugent tr. C.-L. de S. de Montesquieu Spirit of Laws (1758) I. viii. xxi. 181 [They] march strait up to the capital.
1845 J. H. Parker Gloss. Terms Archit. (ed. 4) I. 307 Reveal, Revel... The term is principally used in reference to apertures which are cut straight through a wall, like modern doors and windows.
g. to think straight: to think clearly or logically. colloquial.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > understanding > reason, faculty of reasoning > process of reasoning, ratiocination > reason, ratiocinate [verb (intransitive)]
argumentc1320
reason1551
discourse1599
ratiocinate1643
rationate1644
logicize1835
to think straighta1916
a1916 H. James Sense of Past (1917) ii. 60 He had already..asked himself when he should be able so to detach himself as to think at all straight about his book.
1973 ‘C. Aird’ His Burial Too xiii. 115 I can't begin to think straight as it is.
1980 P. G. Winslow Counsellor Heart x. 137 He rubbed his forehead. ‘I haven't been thinking straight. Excuse me.’
2. † b. followed by prep. Immediately after, upon, at the same time with something. Also with adverb, straight after, straight forth, straight forthwith, straight upon, straight with. Obsolete.1536 Storys & Prophesis Script. H iv b And when the people creyed thus & the trompets sounded, then fell the walles of the toune [of Jericho] streyght forthwith all.1543 R. Grafton Contin. in Chron. J. Hardyng f. cxxv The quene..straight vpon shewed theim the same Peter.1543 R. Grafton Contin. in Chron. J. Hardyng f. cxxxv When he sawe that thei [sc. the gates] could not easely bee beaten downe with any thyng, streight with he set fire on theim.1610 P. Holland tr. W. Camden Brit. i. 273 Dying streight after without issue.
a. Immediately, without delay: = straightway adv. Now poetic or archaic.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > relative time > immediacy > [adverb]
soonc825
ratheeOE
rathelyeOE
rekeneOE
rekenlyOE
thereright971
anonOE
forth ona1000
coflyc1000
ferlyc1000
radlyOE
swiftlyc1000
unyoreOE
yareOE
at the forme (also first) wordOE
nowOE
shortlya1050
rightOE
here-rightlOE
right anonlOE
anonc1175
forthrightc1175
forthwithalc1175
skeetc1175
swithc1175
with and withc1175
anon-rightc1225
anon-rights?c1225
belivec1225
lightly?c1225
quickly?c1225
tidelyc1225
fastlyc1275
hastilyc1275
i-radlichec1275
as soon asc1290
aright1297
bedenea1300
in little wevea1300
withoute(n dwella1300
alrightc1300
as fast (as)c1300
at firstc1300
in placec1300
in the placec1300
mididonec1300
outrightc1300
prestc1300
streck13..
titec1300
without delayc1300
that stounds1303
rada1325
readya1325
apacec1325
albedenec1330
as (also also) titec1330
as blivec1330
as line rightc1330
as straight as linec1330
in anec1330
in presentc1330
newlyc1330
suddenlyc1330
titelyc1330
yernec1330
as soon1340
prestly1340
streckly1340
swithly?1370
evenlya1375
redelya1375
redlya1375
rifelya1375
yeplya1375
at one blastc1380
fresha1382
ripelyc1384
presentc1385
presently1385
without arrestc1385
readilyc1390
in the twinkling of a looka1393
derflya1400
forwhya1400
skeetlya1400
straighta1400
swifta1400
maintenantc1400
out of handc1400
wightc1400
at a startc1405
immediately1420
incontinent1425
there and then1428
onenec1429
forwithc1430
downright?a1439
agatec1440
at a tricec1440
right forth1440
withouten wonec1440
whipc1460
forthwith1461
undelayed1470
incessantly1472
at a momentc1475
right nowc1475
synec1475
incontinently1484
promptly1490
in the nonce?a1500
uncontinent1506
on (upon, in) the instant1509
in short1513
at a clap1519
by and by1526
straightway1526
at a twitch1528
at the first chop1528
maintenantly1528
on a tricea1529
with a tricec1530
at once1531
belively1532
straightwaysa1533
short days1533
undelayedly1534
fro hand1535
indelayedly1535
straight forth1536
betimesc1540
livelyc1540
upononc1540
suddenly1544
at one (or a) dash?1550
at (the) first dash?1550
instantly1552
forth of hand1564
upon the nines1568
on the nail1569
at (also in, with) a thoughtc1572
indilately1572
summarily1578
at one (a) chop1581
amain1587
straightwise1588
extempore1593
presto1598
upon the place1600
directly1604
instant1604
just now1606
with a siserary1607
promiscuously1609
at (in) one (an) instant1611
on (also upon) the momenta1616
at (formerly also on or upon) sight1617
hand to fist1634
fastisha1650
nextly1657
to rights1663
straightaway1663
slap1672
at first bolt1676
point-blank1679
in point1680
offhand1686
instanter1688
sonica1688
flush1701
like a thought1720
in a crack1725
momentary1725
bumbye1727
clacka1734
plumba1734
right away1734
momentarily1739
momentaneously1753
in a snap1768
right off1771
straight an end1778
abruptedly1784
in a whistle1784
slap-bang1785
bang?1795
right off the reel1798
in a whiff1800
in a flash1801
like a shot1809
momently1812
in a brace or couple of shakes1816
in a gird1825
(all) in a rush1829
in (also at, on) short (also quick) order1830
straightly1830
toot sweetc1830
in two twos1838
rectly1843
quick-stick1844
short metre1848
right1849
at the drop of a (occasionally the) hat1854
off the hooks1860
quicksticks1860
straight off1873
bang off1886
away1887
in quick sticks (also in a quick stick)1890
ek dum1895
tout de suite1895
bung1899
one time1899
prompt1910
yesterday1911
in two ups1934
presto changeo1946
now-now1966
presto change1987
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 9484 Nu has him sathanas in wald,..To wais seruis straitt he him eild.
1478 Maldon (Essex) Court Rolls (Bundle 50, No. 10b) They ii. spake no word, butt streyte they smette at him wyth her wepynes.
c1480 (a1400) St. Agnes 312 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) II. 355 He gert thonnir & fire-slacht stirk done þe payanis þar stracht.
a1529 J. Skelton Magnyfycence (?1530) sig. Eiii Let se what ye say shewe it strayte.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 813/2 Strayght, a coup.
1580 G. Harvey in E. Spenser & G. Harvey Three Proper & Wittie Lett. 38 If so be goods decrease, then straite decreaseth a goods friend.
1608 W. Raleigh Lie in F. Davison et al. Poet. Rapsodie (new ed.) 18 And when they do reply straight giue them both the lie.
1632 W. Lithgow Totall Disc. Trav. i. 32 [She] fell straight in a sound.
1646 H. More Democritus Platonissans 18 His Fiat spoke and streight the thing is done.
a1669 J. Howard Eng. Mounsieur (1674) iii. v. 34 Wel. Is your Lady within? Porter. I am not sure sir, but i'le inform you strait, your patience a little sir.
1705 G. Stanhope Paraphr. Epist. & Gospels II. 134 Whereupon the whole herd streight ran down a precipice, and were choaked in the Water.
1722 A. Philips Briton iii. v. 32 My Chariot straight; another, for the Prince.
1755 Ridley in World V. No. 155 130 Strait a voice more dreadful than thunder burst out.
1766 H. Brooke Fool of Quality II. xii. 283 She burst into tears, and straight quitted the room.
1798 S. T. Coleridge Anc. Marinere vii, in W. Wordsworth & S. T. Coleridge Lyrical Ballads 46 The Boat came close beneath the Ship, And strait a sound was heard!
1843 T. B. Macaulay Horatius xix The bridge must straight go down.
1849 H. W. Longfellow Building of Ship in Seaside & Fireside 7 Build me straight,..a goodly vessel.
1871 R. Ellis tr. Catullus Poems li. 9 When as I look'd on thee..Straight my tongue froze, Lesbia.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > straightness > [adjective]
rightOE
straightc1350
rightfulc1384
line-rightc1400
rule-righta1450
streckc1480
unbent1483
straight forth1536
unwried1558
steel-straighta1560
untwisted1575
uncurled1597
rectified1598
cornerless1605
uncrooked1611
unbended1648
retent1656
uninflected1713
curveless1800
arrow-straight1834
unconvoluted1839
unwarped1855
curlless1861
undistorted1881
poker-straight1949
the world > time > relative time > immediacy > [adverb]
soonc825
ratheeOE
rathelyeOE
rekeneOE
rekenlyOE
thereright971
anonOE
forth ona1000
coflyc1000
ferlyc1000
radlyOE
swiftlyc1000
unyoreOE
yareOE
at the forme (also first) wordOE
nowOE
shortlya1050
rightOE
here-rightlOE
right anonlOE
anonc1175
forthrightc1175
forthwithalc1175
skeetc1175
swithc1175
with and withc1175
anon-rightc1225
anon-rights?c1225
belivec1225
lightly?c1225
quickly?c1225
tidelyc1225
fastlyc1275
hastilyc1275
i-radlichec1275
as soon asc1290
aright1297
bedenea1300
in little wevea1300
withoute(n dwella1300
alrightc1300
as fast (as)c1300
at firstc1300
in placec1300
in the placec1300
mididonec1300
outrightc1300
prestc1300
streck13..
titec1300
without delayc1300
that stounds1303
rada1325
readya1325
apacec1325
albedenec1330
as (also also) titec1330
as blivec1330
as line rightc1330
as straight as linec1330
in anec1330
in presentc1330
newlyc1330
suddenlyc1330
titelyc1330
yernec1330
as soon1340
prestly1340
streckly1340
swithly?1370
evenlya1375
redelya1375
redlya1375
rifelya1375
yeplya1375
at one blastc1380
fresha1382
ripelyc1384
presentc1385
presently1385
without arrestc1385
readilyc1390
in the twinkling of a looka1393
derflya1400
forwhya1400
skeetlya1400
straighta1400
swifta1400
maintenantc1400
out of handc1400
wightc1400
at a startc1405
immediately1420
incontinent1425
there and then1428
onenec1429
forwithc1430
downright?a1439
agatec1440
at a tricec1440
right forth1440
withouten wonec1440
whipc1460
forthwith1461
undelayed1470
incessantly1472
at a momentc1475
right nowc1475
synec1475
incontinently1484
promptly1490
in the nonce?a1500
uncontinent1506
on (upon, in) the instant1509
in short1513
at a clap1519
by and by1526
straightway1526
at a twitch1528
at the first chop1528
maintenantly1528
on a tricea1529
with a tricec1530
at once1531
belively1532
straightwaysa1533
short days1533
undelayedly1534
fro hand1535
indelayedly1535
straight forth1536
betimesc1540
livelyc1540
upononc1540
suddenly1544
at one (or a) dash?1550
at (the) first dash?1550
instantly1552
forth of hand1564
upon the nines1568
on the nail1569
at (also in, with) a thoughtc1572
indilately1572
summarily1578
at one (a) chop1581
amain1587
straightwise1588
extempore1593
presto1598
upon the place1600
directly1604
instant1604
just now1606
with a siserary1607
promiscuously1609
at (in) one (an) instant1611
on (also upon) the momenta1616
at (formerly also on or upon) sight1617
hand to fist1634
fastisha1650
nextly1657
to rights1663
straightaway1663
slap1672
at first bolt1676
point-blank1679
in point1680
offhand1686
instanter1688
sonica1688
flush1701
like a thought1720
in a crack1725
momentary1725
bumbye1727
clacka1734
plumba1734
right away1734
momentarily1739
momentaneously1753
in a snap1768
right off1771
straight an end1778
abruptedly1784
in a whistle1784
slap-bang1785
bang?1795
right off the reel1798
in a whiff1800
in a flash1801
like a shot1809
momently1812
in a brace or couple of shakes1816
in a gird1825
(all) in a rush1829
in (also at, on) short (also quick) order1830
straightly1830
toot sweetc1830
in two twos1838
rectly1843
quick-stick1844
short metre1848
right1849
at the drop of a (occasionally the) hat1854
off the hooks1860
quicksticks1860
straight off1873
bang off1886
away1887
in quick sticks (also in a quick stick)1890
ek dum1895
tout de suite1895
bung1899
one time1899
prompt1910
yesterday1911
in two ups1934
presto changeo1946
now-now1966
presto change1987
the world > time > relative time > simultaneity or contemporaneousness > [adverb] > at the same time that with or as
there-midc888
forth withc1175
herewitha1400
runninglyc1443
hand in handa1500
straight1536
forth with that?1541
parallel1646
in parallel1709
neck and neck1799
the world > space > direction > specific directions > [adverb] > in forward direction > directly forwards
forthrighta1000
outrightc1400
foreright1495
straight forth1536
straightforwardsa1555
an-end1601
fair and square1805
straightforward1809
fairly and squarely1827
1576 W. Lambarde Perambulation of Kent 3 For straight vpon the death of Edward the Confessor, William of Normandy..demaunded the Crowne.
1576 G. Gascoigne Complaynt of Phylomene in Steele Glas sig. L.ijv Whom he no sooner sawe..But streight therwith his fancies fume All reason did conuince.
1578 T. Tymme tr. J. Calvin Comm. Genesis i. 25 For this is the simple purpose of Moses, to shewe that the worlde..was not finished streight after the beginning, but [etc.].
a1591 H. Smith Serm. (1594) 358 Straight vpon this, he [sc. David] sayth: It is not so with the wicked.
1654 T. Whalley Let. in R. Parr Life J. Usher (1686) Coll. cclxxxvii. 604 Read, if you please, his Epistle, ad Albertum Marchionem, Dedicatory, straight after the midst.
c. straight off, †straight an end: immediately, at once, without deliberation or preparation. See also straightaway adv.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > relative time > immediacy > [adverb]
soonc825
ratheeOE
rathelyeOE
rekeneOE
rekenlyOE
thereright971
anonOE
forth ona1000
coflyc1000
ferlyc1000
radlyOE
swiftlyc1000
unyoreOE
yareOE
at the forme (also first) wordOE
nowOE
shortlya1050
rightOE
here-rightlOE
right anonlOE
anonc1175
forthrightc1175
forthwithalc1175
skeetc1175
swithc1175
with and withc1175
anon-rightc1225
anon-rights?c1225
belivec1225
lightly?c1225
quickly?c1225
tidelyc1225
fastlyc1275
hastilyc1275
i-radlichec1275
as soon asc1290
aright1297
bedenea1300
in little wevea1300
withoute(n dwella1300
alrightc1300
as fast (as)c1300
at firstc1300
in placec1300
in the placec1300
mididonec1300
outrightc1300
prestc1300
streck13..
titec1300
without delayc1300
that stounds1303
rada1325
readya1325
apacec1325
albedenec1330
as (also also) titec1330
as blivec1330
as line rightc1330
as straight as linec1330
in anec1330
in presentc1330
newlyc1330
suddenlyc1330
titelyc1330
yernec1330
as soon1340
prestly1340
streckly1340
swithly?1370
evenlya1375
redelya1375
redlya1375
rifelya1375
yeplya1375
at one blastc1380
fresha1382
ripelyc1384
presentc1385
presently1385
without arrestc1385
readilyc1390
in the twinkling of a looka1393
derflya1400
forwhya1400
skeetlya1400
straighta1400
swifta1400
maintenantc1400
out of handc1400
wightc1400
at a startc1405
immediately1420
incontinent1425
there and then1428
onenec1429
forwithc1430
downright?a1439
agatec1440
at a tricec1440
right forth1440
withouten wonec1440
whipc1460
forthwith1461
undelayed1470
incessantly1472
at a momentc1475
right nowc1475
synec1475
incontinently1484
promptly1490
in the nonce?a1500
uncontinent1506
on (upon, in) the instant1509
in short1513
at a clap1519
by and by1526
straightway1526
at a twitch1528
at the first chop1528
maintenantly1528
on a tricea1529
with a tricec1530
at once1531
belively1532
straightwaysa1533
short days1533
undelayedly1534
fro hand1535
indelayedly1535
straight forth1536
betimesc1540
livelyc1540
upononc1540
suddenly1544
at one (or a) dash?1550
at (the) first dash?1550
instantly1552
forth of hand1564
upon the nines1568
on the nail1569
at (also in, with) a thoughtc1572
indilately1572
summarily1578
at one (a) chop1581
amain1587
straightwise1588
extempore1593
presto1598
upon the place1600
directly1604
instant1604
just now1606
with a siserary1607
promiscuously1609
at (in) one (an) instant1611
on (also upon) the momenta1616
at (formerly also on or upon) sight1617
hand to fist1634
fastisha1650
nextly1657
to rights1663
straightaway1663
slap1672
at first bolt1676
point-blank1679
in point1680
offhand1686
instanter1688
sonica1688
flush1701
like a thought1720
in a crack1725
momentary1725
bumbye1727
clacka1734
plumba1734
right away1734
momentarily1739
momentaneously1753
in a snap1768
right off1771
straight an end1778
abruptedly1784
in a whistle1784
slap-bang1785
bang?1795
right off the reel1798
in a whiff1800
in a flash1801
like a shot1809
momently1812
in a brace or couple of shakes1816
in a gird1825
(all) in a rush1829
in (also at, on) short (also quick) order1830
straightly1830
toot sweetc1830
in two twos1838
rectly1843
quick-stick1844
short metre1848
right1849
at the drop of a (occasionally the) hat1854
off the hooks1860
quicksticks1860
straight off1873
bang off1886
away1887
in quick sticks (also in a quick stick)1890
ek dum1895
tout de suite1895
bung1899
one time1899
prompt1910
yesterday1911
in two ups1934
presto changeo1946
now-now1966
presto change1987
1778 G. L. Way Learning at Loss II. 147 'Twas at his House they [two lovers] broke cover. And then took off strait an End to Edinburgh.
1873 Punch 18 Jan. 29/1 If ever I meet a woman with lots of tin, who's faultlessly beautiful, I shall marry her straight off.
1879 M. E. Braddon Cloven Foot xxxvi One of those tip-top firms in the City would have gone straight off to take counsel's opinion.
3. In an erect posture, upright. Also straight up. straight set up: having an erect figure.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > posture > upright or erect posture > [adverb]
uprightsa1375
branta1400
straight up1535
upon straightc1540
uprightly1601
erectly1646
streck up1790
aprick1856
1535 Bible (Coverdale) 1 Esdras ix. 46 And whan he had red out the lawe, they stode all straight vp vpon their fete.
1718 A. Ramsay Christ's-kirk on Green iii. 29 They..sat straight Upon 't.
1852 H. B. Stowe Uncle Tom's Cabin I. vii. 88 ‘Mas'r,’ said Tom—and he stood very straight—‘I was jist [etc.].’
1899 G. B. Shaw You never can Tell ii. (1907) 261 Waiter... Very high-spirited young gentleman, sir: very manly and straight set up.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > high or intense degree > [adverb] > utterly
allOE
allOE
outlyOE
thwert-outc1175
skerea1225
thoroughc1225
downrightc1275
purec1300
purelyc1300
faira1325
finelyc1330
quitec1330
quitelyc1330
utterlyc1374
outerlya1382
plainlya1382
straighta1387
allutterly1389
starkc1390
oultrelya1393
plata1393
barec1400
outrightc1400
incomparablyc1422
absolutely?a1425
simpliciter?a1425
staringa1425
quitementa1450
properlyc1450
directly1455
merec1475
incomparable1482
preciselyc1503
clean?1515
cleara1522
plain1535
merely1546
stark1553
perfectly1555
right-down1566
simply1574
flat1577
flatly1577
skire1581
plumb1588
dead?1589
rankly1590
stark1593
sheera1600
start1599
handsmooth1600
peremptory1601
sheerly1601
rank1602
utter1619
point-blank1624
proofa1625
peremptorily1626
downrightly1632
right-down1646
solid1651
clever1664
just1668
hollow1671
entirely1673
blank1677
even down1677
cleverly1696
uncomparatively1702
subtly1733
point1762
cussed1779
regularly1789
unqualifiedly1789
irredeemably1790
positively1800
cussedly1802
heart1812
proper1816
slick1818
blankly1822
bang1828
smack1828
pluperfectly1831
unmitigatedly1832
bodaciously1833
unredeemedly1835
out of sight1839
bodacious1845
regular1846
thoroughly1846
ingrainedly1869
muckinga1880
fucking1893
motherless1898
self1907
stone1928
sideways1956
terminally1974
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1871) III. 97 He put out his eiȝen in Reblata, and lad hym so in Babilon streiȝt blynde.
c1400 Song of Roland 691 Bothe streght ded the horse and his selue.
5. Honestly, honourably. Esp. in to go straight: (a) colloquial to behave honourably; (b) colloquial to reform, to desist from criminal activities (cf. sense A. 6a); (c) slang to conform to social conventions, spec. by renouncing drugs or homosexuality (cf. sense A. 6d).
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > virtue > righteousness or rectitude > reform, amendment, or correction > reform [verb (intransitive)]
risec1175
amenda1275
menda1400
reform1582
reclaim1625
to turn down a leaf1633
to take up1661
repair1748
mend1782
to go straight1888
to straighten up1891
the world > action or operation > behaviour > a standard of conduct > direct one's conduct by a rule [verb (intransitive)] > conform > conform to social conventions
to go straight1973
1845 B. Disraeli Sybil I. ii. xiii. 268 ‘Don't you think, Warner,’ said his wife, ‘that you could sell that piece to some other person?’.. ‘No!’ said her husband, shaking his head. ‘I'll go straight.’
1864 Field 2 July 4/1 Mr. Merry who runs his horses so straight, and who is backed with the same confidence as Lord Glasgow.
1888 Times 26 June 4/5 As a rule I believe they [sc. jockeys] run very straight. It is ridiculous to suppose that they are generally dishonest.
1888 Sat. Rev. 5 Aug. 136/1 The man who goes straight in spite of temptation.
1893 F. W. L. Adams New Egypt 27 There's always room in a place like this for anyone who'll..act straight, and be content with a reasonable profit.
1940 E. Blunden Poems 1930–40 76 Fixing his pinchers on the snake, Thus spake The crab: ‘It's Time for you, mate, To go straight; No more crooked habits.’
1968 ‘R. Simons’ Death on Display iii. 44 I'm goin' straight. Last time I was done was two years ago, and I ain't been tapped on the shoulder since.
1973 To our Returned Prisoners of War (U.S. Secretary of Defense, Public Affairs) 5 Go straight (1) Give up the use of drugs. (2) Return to an approved life style.
1977 D. E. Westlake Enough! ii. 59 ‘He's a fag.’.. ‘Well, maybe he's trying to go straight.’
6. Frankly, outspokenly. Also straight out and used colloquially as int. or intensively: really, certainly, definitely.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > truthfulness, veracity > [adverb] > as emphasis
God (it) wot?c1225
goddot?a1289
sooth to sayc1330
truth (also sooth) to tella1375
honestly1819
honest Indian1854
truthfully1854
honest Injun1857
on the level1872
straight1874
honest1876
square dinkum1888
no kidding1901
straight-up1963
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > sincerity, freedom from deceit > [adverb] > frankly
freelyeOE
unreservedly1708
candidly1762
outspokenly1855
straight1874
man to man1902
(straight) from the shoulder1904
squat1909
society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > plainness > [adverb] > straightforwardly or directly
platc1375
in short and plainc1386
plaina1387
platlyc1390
in (also at, on, unto) (a, the) plainc1395
roundc1405
homelya1413
directly1509
roundly1528
point-blank1598
in good set termsa1616
broadly1624
crudely1638
plain downa1640
plumply1726
plumpa1734
squably1737
straightforward1809
unvarnishedly1824
pine-blank1834
blankly1846
squarely1860
straight out1874
straightforwardly1906
1874 A. J. Munby Diary 22 Apr. in D. Hudson Munby (1972) 366 ‘Mrs Skeats,’ I said to her, quite straight, ‘Do you really think I could wish to be a lady?’
1877 C. H. Spurgeon Serm. XXIII. 56 Speak right straight out and do not be afraid.
1880 G. R. Sims Told to Missionary in Dagonet Ballads ii Give it us straight now, guv'nor,—what would you have me do?
1894 A. Chevalier in Humorous Songs ‘Straight,’ says I, ‘I'm on the job, for better or for wuss.’
1898 J. Arch Story of Life xii. 285 As my custom has ever been I spoke straight.
1898 J. D. Brayshaw Slum Silhouettes 3 I could kill yer wiv my little finger. I could, straight.
a1900 S. Crane Great Battles (1901) 201 He knew how to speak straight as a stick to the common man.
1900 G. Swift Somerley 124 You're a good 'un to tell me straight out like this.
1907 H. Rashdall Theory of Good & Evil II. 89 (note) Nietzsche..often says straight out what some of our English self-realizers only hint.
1914 D. H. Lawrence Prussian Officer & Other Stories 211 I'm awfully sorry, I am, straight, Lois.
1949 J. R. Cole It was so Late 61 She was a smasher—straight she was!
1969 D. Francis Enquiry xi. 141 ‘You've never seen nothing like it,’ he said. ‘You wouldn't know it was a car, you wouldn't straight.’
7. Originally U.S.
a. slang. Without adornment, admixture, or dilution. Cf. sense A. 9a.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > state or quality of being simple, unmixed, or uncompounded > [adverb]
uncompoundedly1628
unmixedly1642
impermixtly1677
inconfusedly1852
straight1869
straight-up1976
1869 S. Bowles Our New West 135 We had to take our victual and drink ‘straight’,—plain ham and bread and butter and black coffee,—or go without.
1873 J. H. Beadle Undeveloped West 528 We lived on Navajo bread, coffee, and ‘commissary butter’, straight.
1902 L. McKee Land of Nome 234 It was a rude shock..when I saw ‘Little Casino’ standing by the bar and drinking her whisky straight.
1947 This Week Mag. 10 May 13/2 She was a bold..camp in days gone by and still drinks her liquor straight.
b. Jazz. to play (it) straight: to play without improvisation, but according to a score or set orchestration. Cf. sense A. 9d.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > performing music > perform music [verb (intransitive)] > specific style or technique > in jazz
go1926
ride1929
swing1931
tear1932
to play (it) straight1933
groove1935
riff1935
give1936
jumpc1938
to beat it out1945
walk1951
cook1954
move1955
wail1955
stretch1961
1933 Fortune Aug. 90/3 It seems to be congenitally impossible for Negro dance musicians to play straight.
1934 S. R. Nelson All about Jazz iii. 66 Listen to the tune played ‘straight’, or as written.
1948 W. Manone & P. Vandervoort Trumpet on Wing 26 Then we would play it straight.
1960 M. T. Williams Art of Jazz iii. 18 The average listener is disappointed in anything played ‘straight’.
c. colloquial. In a straightforward or simple manner; without embellishment or affectation; seriously, without ‘hamming’. Cf. senses A. 10a, c of the adjective above.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > behaviour > unaffectedness or naturalness > [adverb] > straightforwardly or frankly
openlya1200
simplyc1325
plainlyc1390
frankly?1553
open-heartedly1611
heart-to-heart1654
unreservedly1708
straightforwardly1839
single-heartedly1857
straight1961
1961 A. Berkman Singers' Gloss. Show Business Jargon 84 Straight (Mus.) As written, with no variations. (Thea[tr.]) without comedy (e.g. ‘play it straight’).
1975 Country Life 25 Dec. 1799/1 He was able to render these [folk] songs ‘straight’, not in the cultured, genteel manner usually affected on the concert platform.
1976 S. Wales Echo 23 Nov. 1/4 Eric and Ernie played it straight but still had their ‘audience’ laughing.
1978 N.Y. Times 30 Mar. c16/1 One can strike for authenticity: collect old scripts and have them read, straight, by good actors.
8. U.S. colloquial. Consecutively, in a row. Cf. sense A. 3h.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > order > order, sequence, or succession > continuity or uninterruptedness > [adverb] > in continuous succession
continually1340
continentlya1535
cursively1621
straightforward1809
consecutively1847
straight1949
1949 ‘H. Robbins’ Dream Merchants (1950) 45 Haven't you got any other films? People are getting tired of the same show for three weeks straight.
1951 R. Bradbury Silver Locusts 106 He had been working in one of the new colonies for ten days straight, and now he had two days off and was on his way to a party.
1973 Internat. Herald Tribune 15 June 15/4 It was the first time in almost a month that the Mets had won two straight. And it was the first time in exactly a month that they had captured a series.
1976 National Observer (U.S.) 7 Feb. 9/4 It [sc. a stove] has an automatic thermostat that adjusts the damper, and can be loaded to burn for 12 hours straight.
Compounds
C1. Compounds of the adjective.
a. Parasynthetic formations, unlimited in number.
straight-barred adj.
ΚΠ
1832 J. Rennie Conspectus Butterflies & Moths Brit. 171 The Straight-barred Elm (Cnephasia rectifasciana).
straight-barrelled adj.
ΚΠ
1709 London Gaz. No. 4540/8 Stray'd or Stoln,..a black Gelding,..full chested, streight barrel'd.
straight-billed adj.
ΚΠ
1811 G. Shaw Gen. Zool. VIII. 329 One of the most beautiful of the strait-billed Humming-Birds.
c1875 Cassell's Nat. Hist. III. 309 The Parrots are divided into two large sections,..the Parrots proper..and..the straight-billed Parrots (Psittaci orthognathi).
straight-bitted adj.
ΚΠ
1665 J. Rea Flora i. 4 With a straight-bitted Spade, or Turving-Iron..they will easily be flaied and taken up.
straight-bodied adj.
ΚΠ
1603 N. Breton Merrie Dialogue 10 A..faire handed, small footed, straight bodied..gentlewoman.
1689 London Gaz. No. 2493/4 A Bay Mare,..streight Body'd,..strayed..on the 30th past.
straight-edged adj.
ΚΠ
1833 J. C. Loudon Encycl. Cottage Archit. §690 Wooden hooping, or straight-edged laths, may be substituted for iron.
1886 Encycl. Brit. XXI. 819/2 at Shipbuilding Plank is either worked in parallel strakes, when it is called ‘straight-edged’, or [etc.].
straight-fibred adj.
ΚΠ
1785 W. Roy in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 75 434 Very straight-fibred deal was not..affected..by the humidity of the air.
straight-grained adj.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > book > manufacture or production of books > book-binding > bookbinding equipment > [adjective] > leather
straight-grained1753
straight-grain1880
1753 F. Price Brit. Carpenter (ed. 3) 6 With some good, dry, and strait-grain'd English oak.
1843 C. Holtzapffel Turning & Mech. Manip. I. 52 Straight-grained pines and mahogany.
1903 Westm. Gaz. 31 Oct. 7/1 The purse is made of straight-grained, dark green morocco leather.
straight-hammed adj.
ΚΠ
1714 Tickell in Steele Poet. Misc. 181 Truss-thigh'd, straight-ham'd, and Fox-like form'd his Paw.
straight-horned adj.
ΚΠ
1854 A. Adams et al. Man. Nat. Hist. 200 Straight-horned Snout-Beetles (Orthocerata).
1887 W. Morris tr. Homer Odyssey I. xii. 226 His straight-horned oxen.
straight-jointed adj.
ΚΠ
1711 London Gaz. No. 4849/4 [Of a horse.] Strait jointed behind.
1833 J. C. Loudon Encycl. Cottage Archit. § 239 To lay good..straight-jointed floors in the sitting-rooms and passage.
straight-leaved adj.
straight-legged adj.
ΚΠ
1553 T. Paynell tr. Dares Faythfull & True Storye Destr. Troye sig. Cvv Polixena…her members well made and well proporcioned, long fingerde, streight legged.
1898 A. Conan Doyle Trag. Korosko v. 137 He walked slowly away, with his straight-legged military stride.
1909 Mrs. H. Ward Daphne iii. 49 The chairs and sofas were a trifle stiff and straight-legged.
straight-limbed adj.
ΚΠ
1622 F. Bacon Hist. Raigne Henry VII 246 Hee was a Comely Personage, a little aboue Iust Stature, well and straight limmed, but slender.
1860 J. Forster Deb. Grand Remonstr. 102 Robert Car was a poor but handsome young Scot,..straight-limbed, well-favoured,..and smooth-faced.
straight-minded adj.
ΚΠ
1841 W. M. Thackeray Great Hoggarty Diamond vii ‘Mr. Titmarsh,’ says he,..‘you seem to be an honest, straight-minded young fellow’.
straight-necked adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > animal body > general parts > head and neck > [adjective] > having a straight neck
straight-necked1577
the world > food and drink > hunting > hunting specific animals > [adjective] > specific animal > action of fox
straight-necked1887
1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry iii. f. 127 He is coloured lyke a fallowe Deare, straight necked, and hye, like an Ostryge, his head something higher then a Cammels.
1887 Field 19 Feb. 232/3 They missed the good straight-necked fox from this covert which was brought to hand not long since at Terringham.
1900 Westm. Gaz. 12 Jan. 3/1 Scent was not of that reliable description which conduces to straight-necked foxes.
straight-nosed adj.
ΚΠ
1839 W. Yarrell Hist. Brit. Fishes Suppl. ii. 47 The Straight-nosed Pipe-Fish, syngnathus ophidion.
straight-ribbed adj.
ΚΠ
1821 S. F. Gray Nat. Arrangem. Brit. Plants I. 75 Nervature... Straight-ribbed, rectinervia, penninervia. Ribs running in a straight line.
straight-shaped adj.
ΚΠ
1825 W. Scott Talisman i, in Tales Crusaders III. 6 A long, broad, straight-shaped, double-edged falchion.
straight-sided adj.
ΚΠ
1815 T. Rickman in J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art I. 144 A strait-sided canopy is sometimes used.
1871 W. Morris in J. W. Mackail Life W. Morris (1899) I. 268 A terrible chasm, deep, straight-sided, and with water at the bottom.
straight-stocked adj.
ΚΠ
1598 R. Barret Theorike & Pract. Mod. Warres iii. 35 A straight stocked peece..I hold for the better.
straight-tusked adj.
ΚΠ
1882 W. B. Dawkins in Contemp. Rev. Aug. 307 The straight-tusked elephant.
straight-veined adj.
ΚΠ
1839 J. Lindley Introd. Bot. (ed. 3) 132 Straight-veined [leaves].
straight-winged adj.
ΚΠ
1854 A. Adams et al. Man. Nat. Hist. 209 Straight-winged Insects (Orthoptera).
b. With nouns, forming combinations used attributively or as adjectives.
straight-line n.
ΚΠ
1843 Penny Cycl. XXV. 425/2 The square or straight-line chuck..is peculiar to the rose-engine.
1884 F. J. Britten Watch & Clockmakers' Handbk. (new ed.) 249 [A] Straight Line Lever, a form of the Lever Escapement chiefly used in foreign watches, in which the escape wheel arbor, the pallet staff, and the balance staff are planted in a straight line.
1900 Engin. Mag. 19 728 A straight-line motion of a moveable piston.
straight-needle n.
ΚΠ
1875 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. 2120/2 The sewing-machine for leather is similar to the ordinary straight-needle machine, but is stronger.
straight-tube n.
ΚΠ
1901 Scotsman 13 Mar. 10/7 Four types of large straight tube boilers.
c. Special combinations and collocations. Also straight-edge n.
straight A n. (also straight A's) U.S. uniform top grades.
ΘΚΠ
society > education > educational administration > examination > [noun] > marks > specific marks
accessit1753
honour1774
credit1802
second class1810
firsta1830
first class1830
third class1844
Hons.1850
max1851
second1852
special mention1886
distinction?1890
A1892
E1892
pass mark1894
two-two1895
alpha1898
alpha plus1898
gamma1898
beta1902
delta1911
alpha minus1914
fourth1914
straight A1926
two-one1937
lower second1960
honourable mention2011
1926 Amer. Oxonian July 98 It isn't merely four years of football, four years of straight A, and ten thousand activities that make a winner [of a Rhodes Scholarship].
1948 Chicago Daily News 20 Sept. 18/2 In pre-medical college Jim. S. was a brilliant student—straight A's.
1960 Encounter Nov. 29/1 The straight-A students..sometimes slipped away without anyone's noticing.
1980 TWA Ambassador Oct. 77/2 I have a daughter who is the movie~star type, brighter than hell and has straight A's in college.
straight arch n. an arch having radiating joints but a straight intrados and extrados line.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > architecture > arch > [noun] > other types of arch
bowOE
craba1387
cove1511
triumphal arch (arc)a1566
straight arch1663
pointed arch1688
rough arch1693
jack-arch1700
oxi1700
raking arch1711
flat arch1715
scheme-arch1725
counter-arch1726
ox-eye arch1736
surbased dome1763
ogee1800
rising arch1809
sub-arch1811
deaf arch1815
four-centred arch1815
mixed arch1815
Tudor arch1815
camber1823
lancet arch1823
invert1827
platband1828
pier arch1835
ogive1841
scoinson arch1842
segment1845
skew arch1845
drop-arch1848
equilateral arch1848
lancet1848
rear arch1848
straining-arch1848
tierceron1851
shouldered arch1853
archlet1862
segment-arch1887
1663 B. Gerbier Counsel to Builders 63 Straight Arches.
1842 Civil Engineer & Architect's Jrnl. 5 251/2 Straight Arch, or Plat Band, with joints converging to a common centre.
straight-armed adj. Cricket with the arm unflexed; spec. designating a style of round-arm bowling with a straight arm, or an exponent of this style (now Historical).
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > cricket > bowling > [adjective] > manner of bowling
straight-arm1807
straight-armed1827
round-arm1835
round hand1847
underhand1850
round-armed1854
wristy1867
fast-medium1873
under-arm1877
quick1899
windmill1900
body line1932
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > cricket > cricketer > [adjective] > types of bowler
straight-armed1827
round1831
round-arm1835
lobbing1840
underhand1848
skimming1851
right arm1877
fastish1884
quick1922
quickish1939
off-spinning1955
stock bowling1976
1827 Sporting Mag. Nov. 11/1 If necessary, admit the straight-armed bowling, allowing it to go as high as the shoulder, so that the back of the hand be kept under when the ball is delivered.
1828 Sporting Mag. Feb. 244/2 Straight-armed bowlers are invariably slow bowlers.
1934 W. J. Lewis Lang. Cricket 31 Various obsolete names applied to round-arm bowling when it was first introduced:..straight-arm (or -armed) bowling, i.e. with the arm extended horizontally.
1961 Times 12 July 4/5 Suttle gathering runs with that curiously rigid, straight-armed hook of his.
straight arrow n. North American slang an honest or genuine person; also as adj.adv.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > foundation in fact, validity > [noun] > a genuine thing or person
the (real, true, etc.) Simon Pure1776
(the) genuine article1794
(the) clean potato1822
the real McCoy1848
the pure (also true, genuine, etc.) quill1854
to deliver the goods1870
the McCoy1931
straight arrow1969
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > sincerity, freedom from deceit > [noun] > sincere person
Honest John1855
straight goods1892
pure1924
straight arrow1969
society > morality > duty or obligation > recognition of duty > faithfulness or trustworthiness > [noun] > person or thing > person
truelOE
true mana1225
trusty1570
warrant1832
sea-green incorruptible1837
Honest John1855
Boy Scout1918
straight arrow1969
1969 Time 22 Aug. 43 The new eco-activists include groups as straight-arrow as the Girl Scouts.
1969 New Yorker 11 Oct. 194 Smith, a wonderfully old-fashioned straight arrow.
1977 C. McFadden Serial (1978) xliv. 95/1 I keep trying to tell you, I'm really a straight arrow.
1978 Daily Colonist (Victoria, Brit. Columbia) 6 Sept. 31/3 Tell the truth no matter what. And be straight-arrow about it.
1978 J. L. Hensley Killing in Gold iv. 52 I hated not playing it straight-arrow with Ed.
straight-backed adj. (a) literal of a person, an animal, a chair, etc.; (b) not bending the back for work, idle; (c) not given to lounging, energetic.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > external parts of body > trunk > back > [adjective] > types of
straight-backed14..
lute-backed1601
hog-backed1611
broad-backed1651
pig-backed1716
humpbacked1762
mackerel-backed1785
the world > action or operation > inaction > disinclination to act or listlessness > sloth or laziness > [adjective]
sweerc725
foridledc1230
idlea1300
faintc1325
recrayed1340
slewful1340
nicea1398
sleuthya1400
delicate?c1400
sleuthfulc1400
slothfulc1400
sloth1412
lurdanc1480
luskinga1500
luskish15..
droning1509
bumbard?a1513
slottery1513
desidiousa1540
lazy1549
slovening1549
truanta1550
sleuth1567
litherly1573
truantly1579
dronish1580
lubberly1580
truant-like1583
shiftless1584
sluggard1594
fat1598
lusky1604
sweatless1606
clumse1611
easeful1611
loselly1611
do-littlea1613
sluggardisha1627
pigritious1638
drony1653
murcid1656
thokisha1682
shammockinga1704
indolent1710
huddroun1721
nothing-doing1724
desidiose1727
lusk1775
slack-twisted1794
sweert1817
bone-lazya1825
lurgy1828
straight-backed1830
do-nothing1832
slobbish1833
bone idle1836
slouch1837
lotophagous1841
shammocky1841
bein1847
thoky1847
lotus-eating1852
fainéant1855
sluggardly1865
lazy-boned1875
do-naught1879
easy-going1879
lazyish1892
slobbed1962
the world > action or operation > doing > activity or occupation > [adjective] > not slothful
unsweera1500
unidlea1586
unslothful1648
straight-backed1859
eager beaver1948
14.. in Harrow. Hell Introd. 25 The horss hath xxv propertes... After the asse, well-mouthid, well-wyndid, streght-bakked.
1819 M. Edgeworth Let. ?10 Mar. (1971) 181 Lady Elizabeth's mother a fine straight-backed thin dried benevolent smiling eyed looking woman whom I like much.
1830 W. Cobbett Rural Rides in Weekly Polit. Reg. 22 May 667 No straight-backed, bloated fellow..called a publican.
1847 W. C. L. Martin Ox 48/1 Excellent cattle,..large, staight-backed, deep, and broad-breasted.
1859 ‘G. Eliot’ Adam Bede III. v. xl. 102 The mother's a whimpering thing..however, she's a straight-backed, clean woman, none of your slatterns.
1915 H. Begbie Cage ii. 41 The grandmother in a straight-backed chair, the child on a stool at her feet.
straight bit n. (see quot.).
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > cutting tool > chisel > [noun] > boring chisel
boring-bit1844
bore-bit1870
cross-mouth chisel1874
straight bit1883
1883 W. S. Gresley Gloss. Terms Coal Mining 244 Straight bit, a flat or ordinary chisel for boring.
straight block n. a kind of joiner's plane.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > shaping tools or equipment > plane > [noun] > other planes
rabat1440
long plane1665
strike-block1678
mitre plane1688
straight block1812
ice plane1823
side fillister1841
upright1842
scraping-plane1846
sun plane1846
beading plane1858
bead-plane1858
fluting-plane1864
panel plane1873
badger plane1874
shooting-plane1875
whisk1875
block planea1884
scraper-plane1895
chariot plane1909
shoulder plane1935
1812 P. Nicholson Mech. Exercises 105 The Straight Block is used for shooting short joints and mitres, instead of the jointer.
straight chain n. Chemistry a chain of atoms that is neither branched nor closed in on itself to form a ring; usually attributive (with hyphen).
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > chemistry > chemical structure or stereochemistry > [noun] > chain of atoms > types
side chain1873
branched chain1889
straight chain1890
open chain1928
short chain1940
1890 J. B. Tingle tr. E. Hjelt Princ Gen. Org. Chem. i. ii. 18 If the carbon atoms of a nucleus are joined together in a single straight chain, they are said to form a simple or normal chain.
1934 Jrnl. Franklin Inst. 218 145 Among organic chemical compounds the straight-chain hydrocarbons are of particular interest because of the simplicity of their properties.
1965 C. S. G. Phillips & R. J. P. Williams Inorg. Chem. I. iv. 138 A relatively simple example is provided by the difference between the branched and straight-chain hydrocarbons.
1971 New Scientist 24 June 761/2 The use of conventional straight-chain polymers seems to be restricted by an upper temperature limit of about 550°C, but the ladder polymers (so-called because of their integral cross-linked structure) offer more exciting possibilities.
straight-claw n. Zoology a bird of the genus Orthonyx.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > family Muscicapidae (thrushes, etc.) > [noun] > subfamily Orthorhynchidae > genus Orthonyx (log-runner)
straight-claw1894
log-runner1898
chowchilla1931
1894–5 R. Lydekker Royal Nat. Hist. III. 438 The..yellow-headed straight-claw (Orthonyx ochrocephalus), is characterised by the short and straight beak.
straight coal n. Mining (see quot.).
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > workplace > places where raw materials are extracted > mine > [noun] > excavation with three sides left standing
straight stall1860
straight coal1883
1883 W. S. Gresley Gloss. Terms Coal Mining 244 Straight coal, an excavation made in the Thick coal, having the solid coal left on three sides of it.
straight cut n. Cinematography a complete cut between sequences (as opposed to a fade or a dissolve).
Π
1953 K. Reisz Technique Film Editing iii. 245 While the spectator is still laughing, he is already plunged—through a straight cut—into the next sequence.
1959 Viewpoint July 19 A straight ‘cut’ instead of the conventional ‘fade’ helped to achieve a startling visual jerk.
straight drive n. Cricket a drive in which the ball is struck back down the pitch towards or past the bowler; also as v. transitive.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > cricket > batting > [noun] > types of stroke
long ball1744
nip1752
catch1816
no-hit1827
cut1833
short hit1833
draw1836
drive1836
square hit1837
skylarker1839
skyer1840
skyscraper1842
back-cut1845
bum1845
leg sweep1846
slog1846
square cut1850
driver1851
Harrow drive1851
leg slip1852
poke1853
snick1857
snorter1859
leg stroke1860
smite1861
on-drive1862
bump ball1864
rocketer1864
pull1865
grass trimmer1867
late cut1867
off-drive1867
spoon1871
push1873
push stroke1873
smack1875
Harrow drive1877
pull-stroke1880
leg glance1883
gallery-hit1884
boundary-stroke1887
glide1888
sweep1888
boundary1896
hook1896
leg glide1896
backstroke1897
flick1897
hook stroke1897
cover-drive1898
straight drive1898
square drive1900
edger1905
pull-drive1905
slash1906
placing stroke1907
push drive1912
block shot1915
if-shot1920
placing shot1921
cow-shot1922
mow1925
Chinese cut1937
haymaker1954
hoick1954
perhapser1954
air shot1956
steepler1959
mishook1961
swish1963
chop-
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > cricket > batting > bat [verb (transitive)] > hit > hit with specific stroke
take1578
stop1744
nip1752
block1772
drive1773
cut1816
draw1816
tip1816
poke1836
spoon1836
mow1844
to put up1845
smother1845
sky1849
crump1850
to pick up1851
pull1851
skyrocket1851
swipe1851
to put down1860
to get away1868
smite1868
snick1871
lift1874
crack1882
smack1882
off-drive1888
snip1890
leg1892
push1893
hook1896
flick1897
on-drive1897
chop1898
glance1898
straight drive1898
cart1903
edge1904
tonk1910
sweep1920
mishook1934
middle1954
square-drive1954
tickle1963
square-cut1976
slash1977
splice1982
paddle1986
1877 C. Box Eng. Game Cricket xxvi. 449 Drive, a hard forward hit; it is designated on, off, or straight according to the course taken by the ball.]
1898 K. S. Ranjitsinhji With Stoddart's Team (ed. 4) iv. 72 McKenzie plays with a very straight bat,..most of his runs being obtained by straight drives on either side of the bowler.
1927 G. A. Terrill Out in Glare v. 95 Clement played his first ball defensively;..off-drove the next for three. Fosbery straight-drove the next for two.
1959 J. Fingleton Four Chukkas to Austral. xvi. 135 He straight-drove Davidson.
1971 Times 15 Feb. 8/2 Jenner..made some punishing straight drives off Lever.
straight driver n.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > cricket > cricketer > [noun] > batsman > types of batsman
sticker1832
short runner1833
punisher1846
slogger1850
blocker1851
cutter1851
swiper1853
top scorer1860
stick1863
left-hander1864
smiter1878
centurion1886
driver1888
pad-player1888
poker1888
spectacle-maker1893
back-player1897
hooker1900
under-runner1903
puller1911
square cutter1920
straight driver1925
stroke-maker1927
goose-gamer1928
stroke-player1935
flasher1936
sweeper1961
tonker1977
1925 Country Life 8 Aug. 214/1 Of all the glorious straight drivers I have ever seen, commend me to J. N. Crawford.
straight driving n.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > cricket > batting > [noun] > types of batting
blocking1637
quilting1822
defence1825
cutting1827
forward play1828
defensive1832
swiping1833
back-cutting1842
straight play1843
back play1844
sticking1873
leg play1877
off-driving1884
gallery-hitting1888
goose game1899
straight driving1904
stroke-play1905
pad play1906
on-driving1948
stroke-making1956
1904 P. F. Warner How we recovered Ashes vii. 119 There was a Lyons-like power about his straight driving.
straight-edge razor n. (also straight-edged razor) = straight razor n.; also elliptical.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > beautification of the person > beautification of the hair > implements used in styling the hair > [noun] > razor
razorc1300
shaving-iron1352
shaving-knife14..
shaver1558
dry shaver1937
straight-edge razor1972
1972 Sat. Rev. (U.S.) 27 May 4/2 When I was a small boy, my father used a straight-edged razor... I tried using a straightedge, but I was a generation too late... I went over to the safety razor.
1973 J. Rossiter Manipulators i. 8 He shaved his flat cheeks..with a straight-edge razor.
straight eight n. Mechanics (a motor vehicle having) an internal combustion engine with eight cylinders arranged in a straight line; frequently attributive; similarly straight four, straight six; (cf. in-line adj. 1a).
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > powered vehicle > [noun] > motor vehicle > with specific type of engine
one-lunger1908
straight eight1926
V-eight1930
hybrid1967
alternative fuel vehicle1979
AFV1982
society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > machines which impart power > engine > internal-combustion engine > [noun] > engine with specific number of cylinders
sices1920
V engine1924
straight eight1926
V-eight1930
single1951
vee engine1957
1926 A. Huxley Jesting Pilate ii. 197 Heroes invariably have the time to drive in Straight-Eights from Salt Lake City to New York.
1928 Punch 17 Oct. 439/3 Several new ‘straight eight’ cars have recently been announced. The advantages of the eight-in-line unit are obvious.
1954 Motor Man. (ed. 35) ii. 25 (caption) Daimler Straight~eight 36 h.p. petrol engine.
1959 Motor Man. (ed. 36) ii. 38 The crankshaft is arranged so that the pistons operate in exactly the same manner as they do in a straight-four engine.
1963 A. Bird & F. Hutton-Stott Veteran Motor Car Pocketbk. 53 This formed the basis for the small, fast revving straight-eights so particularly associated with the name of Bugatti.
1973 Guardian 11 June 7/4 The Datsun 240K GT Skyline..[has] an ordinary straight-six cylinder engine.
1982 Times Lit. Suppl. 5 Mar. 249/5 The engine of the Type-41 Bugatti illustrated..is a straight-eight with all its cylinders in line.
straight-faced adj. solemn, serious (cf. sense A. 8a).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > suffering > dejection > melancholy > seriousness or solemnity > [adjective]
seinec1330
sober1362
unfeastlyc1386
murec1390
unlaughter-milda1400
sadc1400
solemnyc1420
solemned1423
serious1440
solemnc1449
solenc1460
solemnel?1473
moy1487
demure1523
grave1549
staid1557
sage1564
sullen1583
weighty1602
solid1632
censoriousa1637
(as) grave (also solemn, etc.) as a judge1650
untriumphant1659
setc1660
agelastic1666
austere1667
humourless1671
unlaughing1737
smileless1740
untriflinga1743
untittering1749
steady1759
dun1797
antithalian1818
dreich1819
laughterless1825
unsmiling1826
laughless1827
unfestive1844
sober-sided1847
gleeless1850
unfarcical1850
mome1855
deedy1895
button-down1959
buttoned-down1960
straight-faced1975
1975 Business Week 30 June 14/2 Pierce was, Crichton tells us with the straight-faced assurance that makes his readers wonder what is fiction and what is fact, ‘a man destined to be so notorious that Queen Victoria herself expressed a desire to meet him’.
1983 Washington Post 6 Mar. h 6/3 O'Down just turned 21. With the innocence of the newly famous, he's straight-faced when he says, ‘I want to grow old gracefully.’
straightfacedly adv.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > suffering > dejection > melancholy > seriousness or solemnity > [adverb]
highlyOE
deeplyc1300
solemnlya1325
sadlya1375
soberly1382
demurelyc1400
sadc1400
seriouslyc1425
solemnya1470
murely1474
solemnedlyc1480
solenny1480
in (good, sober, serious) sadness1545
gravely1553
staidly1571
solemniouslya1578
solidly1632
in sad earnest1637
ponderously1637
in jest-earnest1642
in all seriousness1679
joking apart1745
unhumorously1768
solidly1799
in sober earnest1836
mirthlessly1853
votively1857
smilelessly1869
unmirthfully1872
unsmilingly1879
inhumorously1898
soberingly1923
straightfacedly1977
1977 Guardian Weekly 17 July 11/3 They were told straight-facedly [that] the new Israeli premier was going all out to convince the Arabs that in their own interests Israel should keep the West Bank.
straightfacedness n.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > suffering > dejection > melancholy > seriousness or solemnity > [noun]
earnestOE
sadnessc1350
serious1440
seriouste1440
demurity1483
seriosity?a1505
gravity1509
demureness?1518
seriousness1530
solemness1530
sobriety1548
staidness1561
graveness1577
gravidad1641
earnestness1670
substantialness1683
solemnity1712
smilelessness1844
unsmilingness1873
humourlessness1890
straightfacedness1982
1982 Notes & Queries Apr. 142/1 One cannot help feeling that the straight~facedness of the glossing..detracts from the complete understanding of the passage.
straight fight n. an election in which there are only two candidates.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > office > appointment to office > choosing or fact of being chosen for office > election of representative body by vote > [noun] > electoral contest > between two candidates
straight fight1910
1900 Times 3 Oct. 8/2 Dundee, where there will this time be a straight party fight, without the interposition of a labour candidate.]
1910 Times 12 Jan. 9/1 Another very noticeable feature of the London elections is that there will be a straight fight between the Government candidate and the Opposition nominee in all but three constituencies.
1931 Daily Express 16 Oct. 3/2 There was a prospect at one time of three-cornered fights in four of Bristol's five divisions, but to-day the position is that there are to be straight fights all round.
1957 Ann. Reg. 1956 26 Comparisons had been complicated by the appearance or disappearance of Liberal candidates. Here..the comparison was between two straight fights.
straight goods n. U.S. slang the truth; an honest person.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > [noun]
soothc950
soothOE
rightOE
soothnessc1275
soothness1297
soothshipc1320
soothhead1340
very1382
trotha1387
trutha1391
verity1422
veriment1528
true?1531
trueness1559
veriness1574
reality1604
veracity1664
veridicalness1727
the fact of the matter1808
truthfulness1835
actualité1840
the straight1866
satya1879
straight goods1892
veridicalitya1901
truth value1903
dinky1941
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > sincerity, freedom from deceit > [noun] > sincere person
Honest John1855
straight goods1892
pure1924
straight arrow1969
1892 Harper's Mag. Dec. 138 I'm givin' yu' straight goods, yu' see.
1903 B. Kennedy Sailor Tramp i. xix. 156 What do I know..about him? Why that he's all right. That he's straight goods.
1922 E. O'Neill Anna Christie iii. 181 You'd die laughing sure if I said that meeting you that funny way that night in the fog, and afterwards seeing that you was straight goods stuck on me, had got me to thinking for the first time.
1922 E. O'Neill Hairy Ape iv. 40 Is all dat straight goods?
straight-grain adj. (also straight-grained) (see quot. 1929).
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > book > manufacture or production of books > book-binding > bookbinding equipment > [adjective] > leather
straight-grained1753
straight-grain1880
1880 J. W. Zaehnsdorf Art of Bookbinding xx. 88 Should the leather be ‘straight grain’, it must only be creased in the one direction of the grain.
1892 W. L. Andrews Roger Payne 16 The materials used by Roger Payne as coverings for his bindings were almost without exception either straight-grained morocco or russian leather.
1929 C. J. H. Davenport Roger Payne ii. 44 He [sc. Roger Payne] found that if a piece of morocco was slightly damped, and then vigorously rolled on itself by hand, that all its original markings became much more apparent. This leather when dry was found to have acquired a permanent surface configuration like a series of small, more or less parallel, wavy lines, which is now known as ‘straight grain’, largely found, for the first time, on many of Payne's finest bindings.
1956 H. M. Nixon Broxbourne Library Styles & Designs Bookbindings 193/1 Material: Red straight-grained morocco, over pasteboards.
1963 B. C. Middleton Hist. Eng. Craft Bookbinding Technique xi. 122 In the 30s and 40s of the nineteenth century hard- and paste-grain morocco replaced straight-grain morocco and russia for use on fine bindings.
straight-haired adj. (a) having straight hair, leiotrichous; (b) puritanical, prim.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > hair > types of hair > [adjective] > straight > having
lank-haired1687
uncurled1799
straight-haired1841
leiotrichous1855
1841 Miall in Nonconformist 1 242 One may hear timid, down-looking, straighthaired dissenters who speak as small as a halfpenny whistle.
1910 J. McCabe Prehist. Man vii. 102 One of the great divisions of humanity, the ‘straight-haired’ men, or Leiotrichi.
straight-hairedness n.
ΚΠ
1850 T. H. Huxley in L. Huxley Life & Lett. T. H. Huxley (1900) I. 52 I had expected a good deal of straight-hairedness (if you understand the phrase) and methodistical puritanism, but I find it quite otherwise.
straight-horn n. Zoology an animal of the family Orthoceratidæ.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Metazoa > grade Triploblastica or Coelomata > class Cephalopoda > [noun] > order Tetrabranchiata > family Orthoceratidae > member of
pagoda stone1860
straight-horn1861
1861 P. P. Carpenter in Rep. Smithsonian Inst. 1860 167 They belonged to the Family Orthoceratidæ, or Straight-horns.
straight hosiery n. (see quot.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > clothing for legs > clothing for legs and feet > [noun] > stocking > types of > reaching to the knee > types of
grenado-netherstock1598
stock-hose1638
buskin1687
straight hosiery1892
pop sock1958
1892 Labour Comm. Gloss. Straight Hosiery, articles made by cutting up into lengths a long seamless piece..and stitching upon them a stocking foot or sheet sleeve.
straight job n. U.S. slang a single-unit truck, one with its body built directly on to its chassis.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > powered vehicle > motor lorry, truck, or van > [noun] > truck or lorry > with specific type of body
platform truck1868
stake-body truck1907
stake-truck1907
panel truck1910
tray top1934
cab-forward1936
cab-over1943
panel van1948
tipper1950
straight job1955
stake1968
1955 Amer. Speech 30 92 Straight job, a single-unit truck, usually equipped with dual wheels.
1978 S. Brill Teamsters v. 170 About thirty trucks, all ‘straight jobs’ (that is, one-unit vehicles rather than tractors pulling trailers) were backed against a ramshackle warehouse.
straight-joint floor n. Architecture (see quot. 1842).
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > floor > [noun] > types of
parlour floor1441
causey1481
pediment1747
working floor1747
parquet1814
parquet floor1819
subfloor1838
straight-joint floor1842
parquet flooring1845
working floor1850
dallage1856
nightingale floor1914
open floor1932
floating floor1934
1842 J. Gwilt Encycl. Archit. ii. iii. 574 The chief sorts of floors may be divided into those which are folded,..and those which are straight joint, in which the side joints of the boards are continuous throughout their direction.
straight leg n. U.S. Military slang a member of the ground staff as opposed to one of the flying personnel (see also quot. 1967).
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > hostilities in the air > airman > [noun] > non-flying member of air force
penguin1915
kiwi1918
straight leg1951
1951 Sun (Baltimore) 24 July 17/3 Witnessing the maneuver from the sidelines were a number of anxious ground officers or ‘straight legs’.
1967 Everybody's Mag. (Austral.) 18 Jan. 36/2 Today, in Vietnam, Australians are again catching up on American Army slang... An airborne soldier is called a Trooper, and he knows his counter-part on the ground as a Straight-leg.
straight mute n. a simple cone-shaped mute for a trumpet or trombone.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > musical instrument > wind instrument > brass instruments > [noun] > mute for
sordine1591
sourdet1611
sourdine?1779
mute1841
wah-wah mute1925
straight mute1926
plunger1934
plunger mute1935
cup mute1955
harmon mute1955
1926 Melody Maker Feb. 23/1 The modern player must be prepared to use every kind of mute, and novelties are constantly being produced. Most of the latter provide ‘stunt’..effects as against the ‘straight’ mute, which merely softens the tone of the instrument.
1961 A. Berkman Singers' Gloss. Show Business Jargon 61 The most popular mutes for trumpet and trombone are the Straight Mute, which softens the volume about fifty per cent, retaining a certain amount of ‘attack’ quality; the Cup Mute, [etc.]
straight-necked adj. having a straight neck; (of a fox) running with a straight neck or without deviation.
straight pein adj. designating a type of hammer which has the pein in line with the handle; frequently absolute as n.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > driving or beating tools > [noun] > hammer > other hammers
hand-hammereOE
maulc1225
plating hammer1543
bucker1653
axe-hammer1681
brick hammer1688
chipping hammer1783
tup1848
clinch-hammer1850
tack-hammer1865
bucking hammer1875
bloat1881
ringer1883
key hammer1884
peen hammer1885
straight pein1904
toffee hammer1958
1904 J. L. Bacon Forge-practice i. 11 Several other types..are illustrated... A is a straight-pene,..and C, a riveting-hammer.
1957 R. Lister Decorative Wrought Ironwork ii. 11 Hammers..used by blacksmiths vary considerably in size and shape. One type is called a straight pane; its head has a slightly convex face at one end and a wedge-shaped termination or pane (sometimes formerly called a pen) at the other.
1964 S. Crawford Basic Engin. Processes i. 16 The three types of hammer most generally used by the fitter are (a) Ball Pein, (b) Cross Pein, and (c) Straight Pein... All three are of a standard shape at the striking face end but can be readily identified by the shape of the opposite end known as the pein.
1975 R. A. Salaman Dict. Tools 223/1 The Scotch pattern [of hammers used in coopering] has a round face with chamfered neck... The straight pane is used for flaring hoops..to follow the bulge of the cask.
straight play n. a play in which there is plain dialogue without music, etc.
ΚΠ
1932 A. J. Worrall Eng. Idioms 55 I like Godfrey Tearle best in straight plays.
straight razor n. a razor with a long blade that folds into its handle for storage, a cut-throat razor (see cutthroat n. 1d).
ΚΠ
1959 ‘E. Fenwick’ Long Way Down v. 41 If you can use plain soap and don't mind a straight razor.
1976 ‘Trevanian’ Main (1977) iv. 73 I use a straight razor.
straight-run adj. Chemistry (of a petroleum fraction) produced by distillation without cracking or other chemical alteration of the original hydrocarbons.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > chemistry > organic chemistry > hydrocarbons > [adjective] > petroleum containing much sulphur > fraction produced without cracking or chemical alterations
straight-run1921
1921 Nat. Petroleum News (U.S.) 15 July 76/2 Such a product as 68–70 straight-run gasoline is made principally from fresh crude.
1934 Industr. & Engin. Chem. May 501/1 Similar studies were made of a ‘reformed’ gasoline produced by cracking a West Texas straight-run gasoline.
1973 Hadley & Turner in G. D. Hobson Mod. Petroleum Technol. (ed. 4) xii. 441 The petroleum chemicals industry can call upon a variety of feedstocks, including natural gas and straight-run oil fractions.
straight-side adj. having straight sides, as a pneumatic automobile tyre having a straight-sided bead reinforced by a wire or wires contained in the bead.
ΚΠ
1918 Webster's New Internat. Dict. Eng. Lang. Addenda Straight-side.
straight-side n. a type of ski.
ΚΠ
1923 E. Jessup Snow & Ice Sports 22 The ‘cross country’ and ‘straight side’ are names by which one of these models is variously known.
1923 E. Jessup Snow & Ice Sports 26 With the ‘straight side’ model, there is no disadvantage in wearing a ski which is considerably longer than your reach.
straight stall n. Mining = straight coal n.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > workplace > places where raw materials are extracted > mine > [noun] > excavation with three sides left standing
straight stall1860
straight coal1883
1860 Eng. & Foreign Mining Gloss. (new ed.) (S. Staffs. Terms) 80 Straight Stall, an excavation made into the thick coal, having the solid coal left on three sides of it.
straight stitch n. in Embroidery, a single, short, detached stitch; also as adj., designating a simple type of sewing-machine.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > sewn or ornamented textile fabric > [noun] > embroidery or ornamental sewing > stitch > other
chain-stitch1598
French knot1623
picot1623
petty-point1632
tent-stitch1639
brede-stitch1640
herringbone stitch1659
satin stitch1664
feather-stitch1835
Gobelin stitch1838
crowfoot1839
seedingc1840
German stitch1842
petit point1842
long stitch1849
looped stitch1851
hem-stitch1853
loop-stitch1853
faggot stitch1854
spider-wheel1868
dot stitch1869
picot stitch1869
slip-stitch1872
coral-stitch1873
stem stitch1873
rope stitch1875
Vienna cross stitch1876
witch stitch1876
pin stitch1878
seed stitch1879
cushion-stitch1880
Japanese stitch1880
darning-stitch1881
Kensington stitch1881
knot-stitch1881
bullion knot1882
cable pattern1882
Italian stitch1882
lattice-stitch1882
queen stitch1882
rice stitch1882
shadow-stitch1882
ship-ladder1882
spider-stitch1882
stem1882
Vandyke stitch1882
warp-stitch1882
wheel-stitch1882
basket-stitch1883
outline stitch1885
pointing1888
bullion stitchc1890
cable-stitchc1890
oriental stitchc1890
Turkish stitchc1890
Romanian stitch1894
shell-stitch1895
saddle stitch1899
magic stitch1900
plumage-stitch1900
saddle stitching1902
German knot stitch1903
trellis1912
padding stitch1913
straight stitch1918
Hungarian stitch1921
trellis stitch1921
lazy daisy1923
diamond stitchc1926
darning1930
faggot filling stitch1934
fly stitch1934
magic chain stitch1934
glove stitch1964
pad stitch1964
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > manufacture textile fabric or that which consists of > sewing or ornamenting textile fabric > [adjective] > sewing > types of sewing machine
shuttleless1888
cornely1903
straight stitch1918
straight-stitching1967
1918 E. A. Archer Needlecraft ix. 99 I will start with chain-stitching... Start by taking a straight stitch on the line.
1934 M. Thomas Dict. Embroidery Stitches 194 Straight or Stroke Stitch consists of single isolated satin stitches of any desired length and worked in any required direction over short traced lines which have to be covered.
1961 Observer 28 May 33/1 The cost of a sewing-machine can vary... Simple straight-stitch machines can be had for £25 to £30 hand operated.
straight-stitching adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > manufacture textile fabric or that which consists of > sewing or ornamenting textile fabric > [adjective] > sewing > types of sewing machine
shuttleless1888
cornely1903
straight stitch1918
straight-stitching1967
1967 E. Short Embroidery & Fabric Collage ii. 51 Even on a simple straight-stitching domestic machine a wide variety of effects may be obtained.
straight-tail n. Ornithology (see quot.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > perching birds > order Apodiformes > [noun] > family Trochilidae (humming-bird) > unspecified and miscellaneous types of
zumbador1758
sunbeam1769
black warrior1831
hermit-bird1837
Anna's hummingbird1839
jacobin1843
straight-tail1843
vervain hummingbird1847
wedge-bill1848
fiery topaz1854
sungem1856
wood-star1859
calliope1861
rainbow1861
sabre-wing1861
sawbill1861
swallowtail1861
sword-bill1861
thorn-bill1861
visor-bearer1861
warrior1861
wood-nymph1861
puffleg1869
calliope hummingbird1872
flame-bearer1882
shear-tail1885
plature1890
rainbow starfrontlet1966
1843 Penny Cycl. XXV. 272/2 21st Race [of Humming-birds]. The Straight-tails... Bill very short; tail composed of long, delicate, pointed, graduated feathers.
straight-time adj. originally and chiefly U.S. of or relating to remuneration received for work performed within normal or regular hours; also absol. (cf. overtime n. 1).
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > fees and taxes > payment for labour or service > [adjective] > types of payment
fallback1895
portal-to-portal1936
incentive1943
straight-time1944
over-award1950
1944 Sun (Baltimore) 13 Oct. 7/7 Straight-time earnings (which include incentive payments and merit increases).
1958 Listener 10 July 43/2 The widely recognised problem of maintaining reasonable balance of earnings between semi-skilled workpeople paid by results and others—possibly highly skilled—who are traditionally paid on a straight-time basis.
1971 Daily Colonist (Victoria, Brit. Columbia) 7 Oct. 1/3 The construction workers..were working 60-hour weeks at straight time for an hourly rate of $2.27.
straight-wing n. an insect of the family Orthoptera.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > subclass Pterygota > [noun] > division Exopterygota or Hemimetabola > order Orthoptera > member of
spectre1798
locust1826
orthopteran1842
straight-wing1842
weta1843
orthopteron1880
orthopter1882
taipo1928
1842 J. C. Loudon Suburban Horticulturist 100 Orthoptera (Straight-wings).
C2. Compounds of the adverb.
a. With participles, forming adjectives.
(a)
straight-cut adj.
straight-falling adj.
ΚΠ
1887 Daily News 24 June 2/1 The straight-falling folds of pale grey silk that fall round the slim shape of a fair-haired, dreamy-eyed woman.
straight-flung adj.
ΚΠ
1896 R. Kipling Song of the English, England's Answ. 26 Now ye must speak to your kinsmen,..After the use of the English, in straight-flung words and few.
straight-flying adj.
ΚΠ
1925 J. Gregory Bab of Backwoods ii. 17 Whatever Dick Gale had done pointed the straight-flying arrow for Bab's following.
straight-going adj.
ΚΠ
1865 A. Trollope Hunting Sketches 2 Though the nature of their delight is a mystery to straight-going men, it is manifest enough, that they do like it [sc. hunting].
1884 Ld. Tennyson Cup i. i. 86 [You] may be foil'd like Tarquin, if you follow Not the dry light of Rome's straight-going policy.
straight-growing adj.
ΚΠ
1765 Museum Rusticum 3 242 Some small poles of ash, willow, or any strait~growing wood,..must be procured.
straight-grown adj.
ΚΠ
1888 E. Gerard Land beyond Forest li. 305 What more glorious than those straight-grown stems.
straight-hanging adj.
ΚΠ
1935 Amer. Speech 10 192/1 [In writing on fashion] adjectives [sic] in combination with present participles are common, as in much-looking and straight-hanging.
1960 Times 18 Jan. 15/2 Straight-hanging coats with flat backs are a speciality.
straight-made adj.
ΚΠ
1581 C. T. in E. Farr Sel. Poetry Reign Elizabeth (1845) II. 395 My straight-made lims I will not crooke, To think of death, of deuill, or God.
straight-shooting adj.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > operation and use of weapons > action of propelling missile > discharge of firearms > [adjective] > type of firing
popping1753
point-blank1765
sharpshooting1806
high-angle1856
straight-shooting1901
pot-shotting1943
ripple-fired1954
society > armed hostility > military equipment > operation and use of weapons > action of propelling missile > discharge of firearms > [adjective] > of gunpowder: shooting directly
straight1899
straight-shooting1901
1901 Conan Doyle in Wide World Mag. VIII. 113/1 The hard-riding, straight-shooting sons of Australia and New Zealand.
1902 Westm. Gaz. 30 Aug. 3/1 He..only hopes that, in the matter of ‘straight~shooting powder,’ his master's guests will prove equal to the occasion.
straight-sliding adj.
ΚΠ
1869 W. J. M. Rankine Cycl. Machine & Hand-tools 314 A straight-sliding slide-valve.
straight-spoken adj.
ΚΠ
1848 J. R. Lowell Biglow Papers 1st Ser. vii. 5 I'm a straight-spoken kind o' creetur Thet blurts right out wut's in his head.
1859 J. R. Bartlett Dict. Americanisms (ed. 2) 454 Straight-spoken, plain-spoken; downright; candid.
straight-standing adj.
ΚΠ
1913 D. H. Lawrence Sons & Lovers xii. 334 The big, straight-standing woman was trying to estimate the situation.
(b)
straight-goer adj.
ΚΠ
1857 G. A. Lawrence Guy Livingstone xxvi. 248 Foxes were strong and plentiful..and during two months of open weather, many a straight-goer had died gallantly in the midst of the wide pasture-grounds.
b. † straight-bounded adj. Obsolete bounded by straight lines.† straight-pight adj. Obsolete having a tall and erect figure.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > straightness > [adjective] > straight line > formed or bounded by straight lines
right-lined1551
rectiline1570
rectilined1570
straight-bounded1614
rectline1651
rectilinear1654
rectilineous1691
rectilineal1705
1614 W. Bedwell De Numeris Geometricis 43 Each of them is a right-angled and straight-bounded figure.
straight-bred adj. pure-bred, descended from one breed only (cf. sense A. 9e).
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > domestic animal > [adjective] > of livestock > kept for breeding > well-bred
gentle?a1300
true-bred1607
well-bred1607
racy1676
bred1710
high-bred1731
full-blood1764
full-blooded1784
thoroughbred1788
pure blood1818
toppy1893
straight-bred1898
straight1972
1898 Breeder's Gaz. 7 Sept. 199/3 The Gazette is asked for information in reference to certain so-called ‘pure’ or ‘straight-bred’ strains of pedigreed cattle.
straight-cut adj. (a) cut on straight lines; (b) slang honest, respectable; (c) applied to cigarettes made from tobacco with the leaves cut lengthwise into long strands; frequently absol. as n.
Π
1840 W. M. Thackeray Shabby Genteel Story viii He wore..a black straight-cut coat, and light drab breeches.
1868 G. M. Hopkins Jrnls. & Papers (1959) 185 Fine. There were the travelling stack clouds with straight-cut under-sides.
1884 Illustr. London News 18 Oct. 383/1 Cigarette smokers..will find the Richmond Straight Cut No. 1 superior to all others.
1895 Irish Times 16 July 3 (advt.) Kinney's straight-cut cigarettes.
1913 Punch 8 Jan. 24/1 A young gentleman of fashion who..toyed with a priceless straight-cut.
1927 W. Deeping Kitty ii. 21 I want some cigarettes,—straight-cuts—.
1936 ‘J. Curtis’ Gilt Kid xiv. 139 He could..pick up a girl, even a straight-cut, and have her walk arm-in-arm with him.
1939 J. Joyce Finnegans Wake 156 As british as bondstrict and as straightcut as when that broken-arched traveller from Nuzuland.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > posture > upright or erect posture > [adjective]
uprightOE
erectc1530
erected1604
straighta1616
straight-pighta1616
standing1631
undeclining1820
the world > life > the body > bodily height > tallness > [adjective] > and upright
talright1582
straight-pighta1616
well-set-upa1854
a1616 W. Shakespeare Cymbeline (1623) v. vi. 164 Beauty..for Feature, laming The Shrine of Venus or straight-pight Minerva. View more context for this quotation
straight shooter n. slang (chiefly U.S.) an honest person (cf. square-shooter n. at square adj. Compounds 3a).
ΚΠ
1928 S. Lewis Man who knew Coolidge ii. 155 ‘I'll make the law and you furnish my fee,’ he used to say—but laughingly, of course, because he was a real square straight-shooter.
1969 G. M. Brown Time to Keep 176 ‘He's the decentest skipper ever I sailed with... Strict, but fair in his dealings.’ ‘A straight shooter.’
1978 M. Puzo Fools Die xxxiii. 376 She came from a place where the people were straight shooters.
c. Certain phrases in which straight qualifies another adverb are sometimes used attributively or predicatively, becoming adjectives (when attributive they are usually hyphenated), as straight-through, etc. Also straightaway adj., n., and adv., straightforth adv. and adj., straightforward adv. and adj., straight-out adj.
straight-ahead adj. simple, straightforward; spec. (originally U.S.) with reference to popular music, pure, unadorned.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > behaviour > unaffectedness or naturalness > [adjective] > straightforward or frank
right fortha1382
plaina1393
free-hearteda1398
round1487
opena1535
sincere1539
frank1555
pert1567
single-hearted1574
single-minded1577
direct1586
open-hearted1593
open-breasted1594
transparent1600
unclose1606
unminced1648
even down1654
unreserved1654
rugged1678
plain sailing1707
whole-footed1744
sturdy1775
heart-in-mouth1827
jannock1828
straightforward1829
direct-dealing1830
undiplomatic1834
straight-ahead1836
straight-up-and-down1859
man to man1902
society > leisure > the arts > music > type of music > pop music > [adjective] > qualities of pop
metal?1518
anthemic1890
Afro-Latin-American1900
sun-kissed1907
heavy1937
Latin American1937
Memphis1938
sun-drenched1943
indie1945
rockish1955
hardcore1957
doo-wop1958
middle of the road1959
Latin1962
straight-ahead1964
easy listening1965
Motown1965
funky1967
post-rock1967
rocky1967
rock-out1968
funkadelic1969
funked out1970
grungy1971
punk1971
grunge1972
Philly1972
dub1973
drum and bass1975
disco funky1976
punkish1976
reggaefied1976
Britpop1977
post-punk1977
anarcho-punk1979
rap1980
trash rock1980
crunchy1981
industrial1981
New Romantic1981
rockist1981
garage1982
hip-hop1982
thrashy1982
urban1982
Gothic1983
hip-hopping1983
beat-box1984
lo-fi1986
technoid1986
hip-house1987
acid house1988
new jack1988
old school1988
techno1988
baggy1990
banging1990
gangsta1990
filthy1991
handbaggy1991
nu skool1991
sampladelic1991
junglist1993
1836 T. C. Haliburton Clockmaker 1st Ser. xxxvi No strong-minded, straight-a-head, right up and down man does that.
1895 Outing 27 200/1 A plain, straight-ahead skater.
1911 R. R. Marett Anthropol. iv. 95 On the other hand, to improve the physical environment is fairly straight-ahead work, once we can [etc.].
1964 Down Beat 17 Dec. 30 ‘McSplivens’ is a straight-ahead blues.
1977 It May 27/2 Just high energy, straight ahead rock 'n roll of the seventies.
straight-through adj.
ΚΠ
1904 Punch 30 Mar. 234/2 After one straight-through reading of this strange story, an entire class had to pass an examination in it.
straight-up adj. (a) perpendicular; (b) colloquial exact, complete; true, trustworthy; also as quasi-adv. (i) truthfully, honestly; = C. 6; (ii) U.S., unmixed, undiluted (cf. sense A. 9a).
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > vertical position > [adjective]
plumb rightc1445
perpendiculara1450
plumba1500
downright1530
straight-upc1590
vertic1607
up and downc1710
vertical1725
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > [adjective]
soothc825
soothlyc888
soothfastc950
rightOE
lealc1330
verilya1340
veryc1386
truea1398
soothfulc1400
real1440
vray1460
trothlike1544
of verityc1550
verimenta1592
correct1705
truthful1781
truthy1848
unillusory1853
straight-up1910
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > truthfulness, veracity > [adverb] > as emphasis
God (it) wot?c1225
goddot?a1289
sooth to sayc1330
truth (also sooth) to tella1375
honestly1819
honest Indian1854
truthfully1854
honest Injun1857
on the level1872
straight1874
honest1876
square dinkum1888
no kidding1901
straight-up1963
the world > relative properties > wholeness > state or quality of being simple, unmixed, or uncompounded > [adverb]
uncompoundedly1628
unmixedly1642
impermixtly1677
inconfusedly1852
straight1869
straight-up1976
c1590 A. Montgomerie Sonnets xxxii. 2 The lillie..Vhose staitly stalk so streight vp is and stay.
1662 J. Davies tr. A. Olearius Voy. & Trav. Ambassadors 205 Having on the very top of it a great Rock streight up.
1910 A. Bennett Clayhanger i. ix. 71 This new Licensing Act will close every public-house..at eleven o'clock, and a straight-up eleven at that!
1936 ‘J. Curtis’ Gilt Kid v. 52 But Maisie was the only girl he had ever loved! That was straight-up.
1963 L. Deighton Horse under Water xlix. 211 ‘What's the trouble?’ I asked. ‘I'm being followed,’ he said. ‘Really,’ I said. ‘Straight up,’ he said. ‘I wasn't sure until today.’
1973 W. J. Burley Death in Salubrious Place vii. 150 I don't know where he is, Mr Gill, straight up, I don't.
1975 B. Garfield Death Sentence (1976) v. 30 He..beckoned the barmaid. ‘Dewar's straight up, darlin'.’
1976 Listener 8 Jan. 23/1 It proved to be a completely wasted sacrifice, for the programme it gave space to..was a straight-up disaster.
1979 D. Sanders Queen sends for Mrs. Chadwick 137 You might have something going there. That's if this is straight up.
1982 R. Hill Who guards a Prince ii. vii. 149 You looked honest to me..and you sounded like a straight-up guy.
straight-up-and-down adj. simple, presenting no difficulties; also candid, straightforward.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > easiness > [adjective] > not complex
simple1555
plain1589
incomplexed1628
incomplex1658
incomplicate1686
uncomplicated1792
straightforward1833
straight-up-and-down1859
simplicist1904
simplicistic1920
low-level1923
the world > action or operation > behaviour > unaffectedness or naturalness > [adjective] > straightforward or frank
right fortha1382
plaina1393
free-hearteda1398
round1487
opena1535
sincere1539
frank1555
pert1567
single-hearted1574
single-minded1577
direct1586
open-hearted1593
open-breasted1594
transparent1600
unclose1606
unminced1648
even down1654
unreserved1654
rugged1678
plain sailing1707
whole-footed1744
sturdy1775
heart-in-mouth1827
jannock1828
straightforward1829
direct-dealing1830
undiplomatic1834
straight-ahead1836
straight-up-and-down1859
man to man1902
1859 J. R. Bartlett Dict. Americanisms (ed. 2) 455 Straight up and down, plain; candid; honest.
1903 Daily Chron. 15 Apr. 3/6 A straight-up-and-down business of the kind..should be a more attractive investment for British capitalists than the average run of gold and diamond mining schemes.
Draft additions July 2009
slang (originally U.S.). damn (also damned, goddamn, goddamned) straight: expressing certainty, approval, or agreement; ‘definitely’, ‘absolutely right’.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > statement > affirmation and denial > [adverb] > as an emphatic affirmative
absolutely1825
rather1836
a thousand times, yes1896
definitely1931
deffo1940
damn straight1964
1964 in R. D. Abrahams Deep down in Jungle ii. v. 199 Sure, what time you want me to come by? I'll be the fuck around three. God damn straight, I'll be there.
1977 N. Amer. Rev. Spring 44/1 ‘Guess we must of spent it.’ ‘Damn straight we spent it. You spent it.’
1990 N.Y. Times 21 Oct. 26/5 ‘Can't trust anyone these days,’ I say. ‘Damned straight,’ he agrees.
2001 D. Sherman & D. Cragg Hangfire 246 You get me out of here and I'll marry you, goddamned straight I will!
2005 J. Deaver Twelfth Card (2006) 471 You say it a mess here? Well, damn straight.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1917; most recently modified version published online September 2021).
straightv.
/streɪt/, U.S. /streɪt/ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > unevenness > projection or prominence > project from (something) [verb (transitive)] > cause to project or stretch forth
straightc1400
protend?a1475
shoot1533
raise1568
to set out1573
project1624
protrude1638
to start out1653
penthouse1655
portend1657
to throw out1689
obtend1697
to lay out1748
bumfle1832
out-thrust1855
rank1867
the world > space > relative position > posture > action or fact of lying down or reclining > lie down or recline [verb (reflexive)] > flat
straightc1400
the world > space > relative position > posture > action or fact of stretching body > stretch [verb (transitive)] > a person, in punishment or torture
spread?c1225
straina1400
straightc1400
streekc1480
the world > space > relative position > posture > action or fact of stretching body > stretch [verb (transitive)] > specific part of body
reacheOE
stretcha1000
to-spreada1000
warpa1225
spreada1275
putc1390
straightc1400
to lay forthc1420
outstretcha1425
tillc1540
extend1611
to rax out1622
to stick out1663
overreach1890
society > authority > punishment > capital punishment > hanging > be hanged [verb (intransitive)]
rideeOE
hangc1000
anhangc1300
wagc1430
totter?1515
to wave in the windc1515
swing1542
trine1567
to look through ——?1570
to preach at Tyburn cross1576
stretch?1576
to stretch a rope1592
truss1592
to look through a hempen window?a1600
gibbet1600
to have the lift1604
to salute Tyburn1640
to dance the Tyburn jig1664
dangle1678
to cut a caper on nothing1708
string1714
twist1725
to wallop in a tow (also tether)1786
to streek in a halter1796
to straight a ropea1800
strap1815
to dance upon nothing1837
to streek a tow1895
c1400 tr. Secreta Secret., Gov. Lordsh. 69 Whenne þou risys fro slepe þou salt goo a lytyl, & euenly streight out þy membres.
c1480 (a1400) St. Andrew 645 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 81 And bad his tormentoris but bad þane one þe croice þai suld hym stracht.
c1480 (a1400) St. Lawrence 337 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 411 Þar-eftyre gert hyme straucht In til framis with al þare macht.
1489 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (Adv.) ii. 351 Thai straucht thar speris on athir syd.
a1500 R. Henryson tr. Æsop Fables: Fox, Wolf, & Cadger l. 2134 in Poems (1981) 81 Ȝe mon.. straucht ȝou doun in middis off the way.
a1513 W. Dunbar Ballat Passioun in Poems (1998) I. 36 On to the crose of breid and lenth To gar his lymmis langar [a1525, a1560 largear] wax, Thay straitit him with all thair strenth.
a1800 Lang Johnny More vii, in F. J. Child Eng. & Sc. Pop. Ballads (1892) IV. viii. 398/1 Whan the king got word o that, A solemn oath sware he, This weighty Scot sall strait a rope, And hanged he shall be.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > aspects of travel > travel in specific course or direction > direct one's course [verb (intransitive)]
thinkeOE
bowa1000
seta1000
scritheOE
minlOE
turnc1175
to wend one's wayc1225
ettlec1275
hieldc1275
standc1300
to take (the) gatec1330
bear?c1335
applyc1384
aim?a1400
bend1399
hita1400
straighta1400
bounc1400
intendc1425
purposec1425
appliquec1440
stevenc1440
shape1480
make1488
steera1500
course1555
to make out1558
to make in1575
to make for ——a1593
to make forth1594
plyc1595
trend1618
tour1768
to lie up1779
head1817
loop1898
society > travel > aspects of travel > travel in specific course or direction > direct one's course [verb (reflexive)]
turnc1175
stretcha1225
bowc1275
steer1399
straighta1400
ready?a1425
purposec1425
address1436
applya1450
shape1480
make1488
aima1500
bound1821
a1400–50 Wars Alex. 2032 Fra þe streme of struma he streȝtis & still mournes.
a1400–50 Wars Alex. 3206 He streȝt him to struma & ouire þe streme ridis.
3. † b. To compose, clear up (care). Obsolete.
a. transitive. To make straight, straighten. In later use chiefly Scottish, to straighten (a stream, a boundary), to lay out (a corpse).
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > straightness > make straight [verb (transitive)]
unfoldc890
evenOE
rightc1275
rectifyc1475
straight1530
unbow1538
straighten1542
unarch1598
uncrisp1598
uncurl1598
undouble1611
untuck1611
unwind1614
bendc1616
unbend1663
unwarp1670
evolve1689
unwrap1859
unkink1891
dekink1957
the world > life > death > disposal of corpse > preparation or treatment of corpse > prepare corpse [verb (transitive)] > lay out
stretcha1225
streek1303
to lay out1595
composea1677
straight1725
stroke1898
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 738/1 I strayght a thyng that is crokyd or bendyd, je redresse. Strayght my wande, I praye you.
1583 B. Melbancke Philotimus (new ed.) sig. Aiv The smith cooleth his yron to straight it & strenghthen it.
1612 T. Taylor Αρχὴν Ἁπάντων: Comm. Epist. Paul to Titus (ii. 6) 404 Experience wisheth vs to..straight a tree while it is a twigge.
1725 P. Walker Life A. Peden Biog. Presbyt. (1827) I. 74 She..straighted his Body, and covered him with her Plaid.
1762 A. Dickson Treat. Agric. ii. xv. 266 If a view to inclosing makes it necessary to straight the ridges, the levelling them should be the work of several years.
1776 A. Smith Inq. Wealth of Nations I. i. i. 6 One man draws out the wire, another straights it, a third cuts it. View more context for this quotation
1799 J. Robertson Gen. View Agric. Perth 365 Some brooks, which ran slowly with a winding course..have been streighted.
1819 W. Scott Bride of Lammermoor ix, in Tales of my Landlord 3rd Ser. II. 233 If the dead corpse binna straughted, it will girn and thraw, and that will fear the best of us.
1833 J. C. Loudon Encycl. Cottage Archit. §936 All the ceilings..are..to be properly straighted (made even or smooth with the edge of a board or float).
1838 W. Bell Dict. Law Scotl. at Marches By the act 1699, c. 17, landholders may apply for a streighting of marches, and the judge ordinary may streight them.
1861 H. B. Stowe Pearl of Orr's Island 18 Zephaniah Pennel straighted his tall form,—before bowed on his hands.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > pleasure > state of being consoled or relieved > be relieved of [verb (transitive)] > console or relieve > relieve (suffering)
lissea1000
alightOE
allayc1225
softc1225
comfort1297
laya1300
eathea1325
allegea1375
appeasec1374
laska1375
slakea1387
releasea1393
balma1400
to bete one of one's balea1400
to cool a person's caresc1400
delivera1413
leggea1425
mitigate?a1425
repress?a1425
alleviate?a1475
allevya1500
alleve1544
leviate1545
lenify1567
allevate1570
ungrieve1589
straight1604
mulcify1653
balsama1666
solace1667
meliorate1796
1604 N. Breton Passionate Shepheard (1877) sig. Cv Thus let all your Cares be straited.
Derivatives
ˈstraighted adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > death > disposal of corpse > preparation or treatment of corpse > [adjective] > laid out
straighted1835
1835 Fraser's Mag. 12 13 The widow herself was a dead and straighted corpse.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1917; most recently modified version published online December 2020).
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adj.n.adv.13..
v.a1400- may twofour
- may twofour weekend
- may week
- may well with
- may wine
- may wool
- may worst away with
- may would
- may your shadow never grow be less!
- may your shadow never grow less!
- may-basket
- may-bean
- may-bee
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- may-bird
- may-blob
- may-bloom
- may-blossomed
- may-born
- may-bough
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- may-bug
- may-bush
- may-busket
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