DICT.TW Dictionary Taiwan
Di·rect a.
1. Straight; not crooked, oblique, or circuitous; leading by the short or shortest way to a point or end; as, a direct line; direct means.
What is direct to, what slides by, the question. --Locke.
2. Straightforward; not of crooked ways, or swerving from truth and openness; sincere; outspoken.
Be even and direct with me. --Shak.
3. Immediate; express; plain; unambiguous.
He nowhere, that I know, says it in direct words. --Locke.
A direct and avowed interference with elections. --Hallam.
4. In the line of descent; not collateral; as, a descendant in the direct line.
5. Astron. In the direction of the general planetary motion, or from west to east; in the order of the signs; not retrograde; -- said of the motion of a celestial body.
6. Political Science Pertaining to, or effected immediately by, action of the people through their votes instead of through one or more representatives or delegates; as, direct nomination, direct legislation.
Direct action. (a) Mach. See Direct-acting. (b) Trade unions See Syndicalism, below.
Direct discourse Gram., the language of any one quoted without change in its form; as, he said “I can not come;” -- correlative to indirect discourse, in which there is change of form; as, he said that he could not come. They are often called respectively by their Latin names, oratio directa, and oratio obliqua.
Direct evidence Law, evidence which is positive or not inferential; -- opposed to circumstantial evidence, or indirect evidence. -- This distinction, however, is merely formal, since there is no direct evidence that is not circumstantial, or dependent on circumstances for its credibility. --Wharton.
Direct examination Law, the first examination of a witness in the orderly course, upon the merits. --Abbott.
Direct fire Mil., fire, the direction of which is perpendicular to the line of troops or to the parapet aimed at.
Direct process Metal., one which yields metal in working condition by a single process from the ore. --Knight.
Direct tax, a tax assessed directly on lands, etc., and polls, distinguished from taxes on merchandise, or customs, and from excise.
In·di·rect a.
1. Not direct; not straight or rectilinear; deviating from a direct line or course; circuitous; as, an indirect road.
2. Not tending to an aim, purpose, or result by the plainest course, or by obvious means, but obliquely or consequentially; by remote means; as, an indirect accusation, attack, answer, or proposal.
By what bypaths and indirect, crooked ways
I met this crown. --Shak.
3. Not straightforward or upright; unfair; dishonest; tending to mislead or deceive.
Indirect dealing will be discovered one time or other. --Tillotson.
4. Not resulting directly from an act or cause, but more or less remotely connected with or growing out of it; as, indirect results, damages, or claims.
5. Logic & Math. Not reaching the end aimed at by the most plain and direct method; as, an indirect proof, demonstration, etc.
Indirect claims, claims for remote or consequential damage. Such claims were presented to and thrown out by the commissioners who arbitrated the damage inflicted on the United States by the Confederate States cruisers built and supplied by Great Britain.
Indirect demonstration, a mode of demonstration in which proof is given by showing that any other supposition involves an absurdity (reductio ad absurdum), or an impossibility; thus, one quantity may be proved equal to another by showing that it can be neither greater nor less.
Indirect discourse. Gram. See Direct discourse, under Direct.
Indirect evidence, evidence or testimony which is circumstantial or inferential, but without witness; -- opposed to direct evidence.
Indirect tax, a tax, such as customs, excises, etc., exacted directly from the merchant, but paid indirectly by the consumer in the higher price demanded for the articles of merchandise.
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direct discourse
n : a report of the exact words used in a discourse (e.g., "he
said `I am a fool'") [syn: direct quotation] [ant: indirect
discourse]