DIRECTLY • FREE-TRANSLATOR.COM • Definition of Directly

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/dərˈɛktli/ /dɪrˈɛkli/ /daɪrˈɛkli/ Listen

adverb

Directly adv.

1.

In a direct manner; in a straight line or course. "To run directly on." "Indirectly and directly too Thou hast contrived against the very life Of the defendant."

2.

In a straightforward way; without anything intervening; not by secondary, but by direct, means.

3.

Without circumlocution or ambiguity; absolutely; in express terms. "No man hath hitherto been so impious as plainly and directly to condemn prayer."

4.

Exactly; just. "Stand you directly in Antonius' way."

5.

Straightforwardly; honestly. "I have dealt most directly in thy affair."

6.

Manifestly; openly. (Obs.) "Desdemona is directly in love with him."

7.

Straightway; next in order; without delay; immediately. "Will she go now to bed? 'Directly.'"

8.

Immediately after; as soon as. "Directly he stopped, the coffin was removed." Note: This use of the word is common in England, especially in colloquial speech, but it can hardly be regarded as a well-sanctioned or desirable use.

Directly proportional (Math.), proportional in the order of the terms; increasing or decreasing together, and with a constant ratio; opposed to inversely proportional.

Synonyms: Immediately; forthwith; straightway; instantly; instantaneously; soon; promptly; openly; expressly. Directly, Immediately, Instantly, Instantaneously. Directly denotes, without any delay or diversion of attention; immediately implies, without any interposition of other occupation; instantly implies, without any intervention of time. Hence, "I will do it directly," means, "I will go straightway about it." "I will do it immediately," means, "I will do it as the very next thing." "I will do it instantly," allows not a particle of delay. Instantaneously, like instantly, marks an interval too small to be appreciable, but commonly relates to physical causes; as, the powder touched by fire instantaneously exploded.

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Etymology of 'Directly'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Directly" Quotes from Famous Books

... could see nearly fifty feet ahead of her. Captain Jules walked just in front of her, swinging his great body from side to side, peering down into the sandy bottom of the bay. Madge discovered that the only way in which she could get a view, except the one directly in front of her, was by turning her head inside her helmet, to look through her side window glasses. The goggles over her eyes gave her just the view that a horse ...

— Madge Morton's Victory • Amy D.V. Chalmers

... away gave her a fine bunch of flowers. Fanny was in great delight, for she loved flowers and knew her dear grandmother loved them too. But as she was coming back, and just as she was entering the streets, she met a lady and a little boy of about three years old, who directly held out his hands and began to beg for the flowers. His mamma stopped, and as Fanny was very poorly dressed, she thought it probable that she would sell her nosegay, and ...

— Fanny, the Flower-Girl • Selina Bunbury

... A verb whose action passes over to the object directly, as in the sentence above, is called a /transitive verb. A verb which does not admit of a direct object is called /intransitive, as, ...

— Latin for Beginners • Benjamin Leonard D'Ooge

... immediately forthcoming when called for, was regarded as a grave and inexcusable offence: not only by my pupils and their mother, but by the very servant, who came in breathless haste to call me, exclaiming, 'You're to go to the schoolroom DIRECTLY, mum, the young ladies is WAITING!!' Climax of horror! ...

— Agnes Grey • Anne Bronte

... I engaged as guide one Krsto, recommended me in 1903 at Andrijevitza by a botany professor from Prague, and while our start was preparing went with Kapetan Gjuro Vrbitza and another officer by a track to the mountain's edge whence we could look directly down upon Cattaro. A gun emplacement was made there later. The two Montenegrins amused themselves by hurling stones into Austrian territory—feeling ran then strongly against Austria. For the first time I ...

— Twenty Years Of Balkan Tangle • Durham M. Edith

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