direct /di- or dī-rektˈ, dīˈrekt/

1. Straight
2. Straightforward
3. By the shortest way
4. Forward, not backward or oblique
5. At right angles
6. Immediate
7. Without intervening agency or interposed stages
8. (of a dye) fixing itself without a mordant
9. In the line of descent
10. Outspoken
11. Sincere
12. Unambiguous
13. Unsophisticated in manner

An indication of the first note or chord of next page or line

1. Straight
2. By the shortest way
3. Without deviation, intervening agency or interposed stages

1. To keep or lay straight
2. To point or aim
3. To point out the proper course to
4. To guide
5. To order
6. To address, mark with the name and residence of a person
7. To plan and superintend the production of (a film or play)

1. To act as director of a film, play, etc
2. To direct letters, etc

direcˈtion noun

1. Aim at a certain point
2. The line or course in which anything moves or on which any point lies
3. Guidance
4. Command
5. A sense of purpose or goal
6. (in pl) instructions
7. The body of persons who guide or manage a matter
8. The address, or written name and residence of a person
9. The work of the director of a film, play, etc

direcˈtional adjective

1. Relating to direction in space
2. Relating to or leading trends in fashion

directionalˈity noun

direcˈtionless adjective

1. Not moving, looking, etc in any particular direction
2. Aimless

directˈive adjective

Having the power or a tendency to direct

1. A general instruction
2. A law passed by the European Union, addressed to member states, requiring the national Parliament to make changes to their law so as to effect the directive

directivˈity noun

The property of being directional

directˈly adverb

1. In a direct manner
2. Without intermediary
3. Immediately (in time and otherwise)

As soon as

directˈness noun

directˈor noun

1. (also fem directˈress or directˈrix) a person who directs
2. A person who directs the shooting of a cinema film, etc
3. A manager or governor
4. A member of a board conducting the affairs of a company
5. A counsellor
6. A father confessor or spiritual guide
7. Part of a machine or instrument that guides the motion
8. In automatic trunk dialling, the apparatus that obtains a channel through exchange junctions to the required exchange
9. A device that continuously calculates the position of a moving target and supplies firing data

directˈorate noun

1. The office of director
2. A body of directors
3. (with cap) the French Directory or Directoire

directorial /-tōˈ or -töˈ/ adjective

direcˈtorship noun

directˈory noun

1. A body of directions
2. A guide
3. A book with the names, telephone numbers and residences of the inhabitants of a place
4. A similar reference book compiled for a specific purpose, eg fax users, members of one profession or trade
5. A named grouping of files on a disk, controlled by an operating system (computing)
6. A body of directors
7. (with cap) the Directoire, or French Republican government of 1795–99

1. Containing directions
2. Guiding

directˈrix noun (pl directrices /-triˈsēz/)

1. See director above
2. A line serving to describe a conic section, which is the locus of a point whose distances from focus and directrix have a constant ratio (geometry)

direct access noun (computing)

The ability to access data in a storage and retrieval system directly without having to scan any part of the storage file first (also random access)

direct action noun

Coercive methods of attaining industrial or political ends as opposed to pacific, parliamentary or political action

direct broadcast satellite noun (telecommunications)

A high-power geostationary communications satellite from which television programmes are beamed directly to the viewer, rather than being redistributed by cable or other means

direct cost noun (accounting)

One that can be measured and identified as being incurred on a specific job, contract or process

direct current noun

An electric current flowing in one direction only

direct debit noun

An arrangement by which a creditor can claim payment direct from the payer's bank account, and the payee can vary the amount paid

direct discourse see direct speech below.

direct drilling noun

The ploughing and sowing of a field in one operation

directed-energy weapon noun

A weapon whose destructive force consists of beams of light, electromagnetic pulses, subatomic particles or the like

direct-grant school noun

(until 1979) a fee-paying school that received a state grant on condition that it took a specified number of non-fee-paying pupils

direct injection noun

A system of fuel injection in an internal-combustion engine where a carburettor is not used but fuel is injected directly into the cylinder

directional aerial noun

One that can receive or transmit radio waves in one direction only

directional drilling noun (oil)

A method of drilling in which the well is not drilled vertically, a technique, used esp in offshore drilling, where a number of wells may be drilled from a single platform

directional microphone noun

A microphone in which the response depends on the direction of the sound waves

• dissimilar
• dissimilarities
• dissimilarity
• dissimilarly
• dissimilate
• dissimilated
• dissimilates
• dissimilating
• dissimilation
• dissimilations
• dissimile
• dissimiles
• dissimilitude
• dissimilitudes
• dissimulate
• dissimulated
• dissimulates
• dissimulating
• dissimulation
• dissimulations
• dissimulative
• dissimulator
• dissimulators
• dissing
• dissipable