All 46 Uses of

direct

in

The Mill on the Floss

Maggie took the opposite view very strongly, and it was a direct consequence of this difference of opinion that when her mother was in the act of brushing out the reluctant black crop Maggie suddenly rushed from under her hands and dipped her head in a basin of water standing near, in the vindictive determination that there should be no more chance of curls that day.†
Chpt 1.4 (definition 1)

Bob knew, directly he saw a bird's egg, whether it was a swallow's, or a tomtit's, or a yellow-hammer's; he found out all the wasps' nests, and could set all sort of traps; he could climb the trees like a squirrel, and had quite a magical power of detecting hedgehogs and stoats; and he had courage to do things that were rather naughty, such as making gaps in the hedgerows, throwing stones after the sheep, and killing a cat that was wandering incognito.†
Chpt 1.6 (definition 2)

"Oh, Maggie, you'll have to go down to dinner directly," said Tom.†
Chpt 1.7 (definition 4)

This observation of hers tended directly to convince Mr. Tulliver that it would not be at all awkward for him to raise five hundred pounds; and when Mrs. Tulliver became rather pressing to know how he would raise it without mortgaging the mill and the house which he had said he never would mortgage, since nowadays people were none so ready to lend money without security, Mr. Tulliver, getting warm, declared that Mrs. Glegg might do as she liked about calling in her money, he should…†
Chpt 1.8 (definition 4)

…the influence of a strong feeling, had a promptitude in action that may seem inconsistent with that painful sense of the complicated, puzzling nature of human affairs under which his more dispassionate deliberations were conducted; but it is really not improbable that there was a direct relation between these apparently contradictory phenomena, since I have observed that for getting a strong impression that a skein is tangled there is nothing like snatching hastily at a single thread.†
Chpt 1.8

I must be going home again directly," said Mr. Tulliver, looking at the distance.†
Chpt 1.8 (definition 4)

With Tom the interval had seemed still longer, for he had been seated in irksome constraint on the edge of a sofa directly opposite his uncle Pullet, who regarded him with twinkling gray eyes, and occasionally addressed him as "Young sir."†
Chpt 1.9 (definition 4)

In the matter of wills, personal qualities were subordinate to the great fundamental fact of blood; and to be determined in the distribution of your property by caprice, and not make your legacies bear a direct ratio to degrees of kinship, was a prospective disgrace that would have embittered her life.†
Chpt 1.13 (definition 3) *

I am afraid he hated Mrs. Stelling, and contracted a lasting dislike to pale blond ringlets and broad plaits, as directly associated with haughtiness of manner, and a frequent reference to other people's "duty."†
Chpt 2.1 (definition 4)

But not even a direct argument from that typical Dodson female herself against his going to law could have heightened his disposition toward it so much as the mere thought of Wakem, continually freshened by the sight of the too able attorney on market-days.†
Chpt 2.2

His weakness did not lie on the side of scrupulosity; but the largest amount of winking, however significant, is not equivalent to seeing through a stone wall; and confident as Mr. Tulliver was in his principle that water was water, and in the direct inference that Pivart had not a leg to stand on in this affair of irrigation, he had an uncomfortable suspicion that Wakem had more law to show against this (rationally) irrefragable inference than Gore could show for it.†
Chpt 2.2

Her frivolous mind required a more direct appeal to its sense of the terrible, and Tom prepared for his master-stroke.†
Chpt 2.5 (definition 1)

Hitherto she had instinctively behaved as if she were quite unconscious of Philip's deformity; her own keen sensitiveness and experience under family criticism sufficed to teach her this as well as if she had been directed by the most finished breeding.†
Chpt 2.6

I must go back with my sister directly.†
Chpt 2.7 (definition 4)

"Yes, I sent Luke directly they'd put the bailies in, and your aunt Pullet's been—and, oh dear, oh dear, she cries so and says your father's disgraced my family and made it the talk o' the country; and she'll buy the spotted cloths for herself, because she's never had so many as she wanted o' that pattern, and they sha'n't go to strangers, but she's got more checks a'ready nor she can do with."†
Chpt 3.2 (definition 4)

Mr. Tulliver, who had begun, in his intervals of consciousness, to manifest an irritability which often appeared to have as a direct effect the recurrence of spasmodic rigidity and insensibility, had lain in this living death throughout the critical hours when the noise of the sale came nearest to his chamber.†
Chpt 3.6

Such things give a completeness to prosperity, and contribute elements of agreeable consciousness that are not dreamed of by that short-sighted, overheated vindictiveness which goes out its way to wreak itself in direct injury.†
Chpt 3.7

Uncles and aunts were almost unanimously of opinion that such an offer ought not to be rejected when there was nothing in the way but a feeling in Mr. Tulliver's mind, which, as neither aunts nor uncles shared it, was regarded as entirely unreasonable and childish,—indeed, as a transferring toward Wakem of that indignation and hatred which Mr. Tulliver ought properly to have directed against himself for his general quarrelsomeness, and his special exhibition of it in going to law.†
Chpt 3.8 (definition 4) *

And now—without the indirect charm of school-emulation—Telemaque was mere bran; so were the hard, dry questions on Christian Doctrine; there was no flavor in them, no strength.†
Chpt 4.3 (definition 2)

She knew nothing of doctrines and systems, of mysticism or quietism; but this voice out of the far-off middle ages was the direct communication of a human soul's belief and experience, and came to Maggie as an unquestioned message.†
Chpt 4.3

For example, she not only determined to work at plain sewing, that she might contribute something toward the fund in the tin box, but she went, in the first instance, in her zeal of self-mortification, to ask for it at a linen shop in St. Ogg's, instead of getting it in a more quiet and indirect way; and could see nothing but what was entirely wrong and unkind, nay, persecuting, in Tom's reproof of her for this unnecessary act.†
Chpt 4.3 (definition 1)

In this June time, too, the dog-roses were in their glory, and that was an additional reason why Maggie should direct her walk to the Red Deeps, rather than to any other spot, on the first day she was free to wander at her will,—a pleasure she loved so well, that sometimes, in her ardors of renunciation, she thought she ought to deny herself the frequent indulgence in it.†
Chpt 5.1

But you must not suppose that he was capable of a gross selfishness, or that he could have been satisfied without persuading himself that he was seeking to infuse some happiness into Maggie's life,—seeking this even more than any direct ends for himself.†
Chpt 5.1

…Mr. Deane, when he expected to take his wine alone, would tell Tom to step in and sit with him an hour, and would pass that hour in much lecturing and catechising concerning articles of export and import, with an occasional excursus of more indirect utility on the relative advantages to the merchants of St. Ogg's of having goods brought in their own and in foreign bottoms,—a subject on which Mr. Deane, as a ship-owner, naturally threw off a few sparks when he got warmed with talk and…†
Chpt 5.2 (definition 2)

Ugly and deformed people have great need of unusual virtues, because they are likely to be extremely uncomfortable without them; but the theory that unusual virtues spring by a direct consequence out of personal disadvantages, as animals get thicker wool in severe climates, is perhaps a little overstrained.†
Chpt 5.3 (definition 1)

Maggie turned rather pale; this direct question seemed not easy to answer.
Chpt 5.4 (definition 1) *

direct = straightforward (specific and to the point)

Those slight indirect suggestions which are dependent on apparently trivial coincidences and incalculable states of mind, are the favorite machinery of Fact, but are not the stuff in which Imagination is apt to work.†
Chpt 5.5 (definition 2)

Stephen was aware that he had sense and independence enough to choose the wife who was likely to make him happy, unbiassed by any indirect considerations.†
Chpt 6.1 (definition 2)

"No," said Maggie, looking at him with her direct glance; "if we use common words on a great occasion, they are the more striking, because they are felt at once to have a particular meaning, like old banners, or every-day clothes, hung up in a sacred place."†
Chpt 6.2 (definition 3)

"Oh, thank you," said Maggie, blushing with returning self-consciousness at this direct address, and taking up her work again.†
Chpt 6.2

But you, who have a higher logic than the verbal to guide you, have already foreseen, as the direct sequence to that unfavorable opinion of Stephen's, that he walked down to the boathouse calculating, by the aid of a vivid imagination, that Maggie must give him her hand at least twice in consequence of this pleasant boating plan, and that a gentleman who wishes ladies to look at him is advantageously situated when he is rowing them in a boat.†
Chpt 6.2

You think I am not kind; but my kindness can only be directed by what I believe to be good for you.†
Chpt 6.4

She did not answer directly; her heart was too full, and she sat down, leaning her arm on the table.†
Chpt 6.4 (definition 2) *

He was rather surprised, then, when his uncle put a direct question to him.†
Chpt 6.5

Is it an inexplicable thing that a girl should enjoy her lover's society the more for the presence of a third person, and be without the slightest spasm of jealousy that the third person had the conversation habitually directed to her?†
Chpt 6.6 (definition 4)

Maggie only felt that life was revealing something quite new to her; and she was absorbed in the direct, immediate experience, without any energy left for taking account of it and reasoning about it.†
Chpt 6.6

"Kenn himself said the other day that he didn't like this plan of making vanity do the work of charity; but just as the British public is not reasonable enough to bear direct taxation, so St. Ogg's has not got force of motive enough to build and endow schools without calling in the force of folly."†
Chpt 6.6

It was not quite unintentionally that Philip had wandered into this song, which might be an indirect expression to Maggie of what he could not prevail on himself to say to her directly.†
Chpt 6.7 (definition 2)

It was not quite unintentionally that Philip had wandered into this song, which might be an indirect expression to Maggie of what he could not prevail on himself to say to her directly.†
Chpt 6.7 (definition 4)

I shall have no direct transactions with young Tulliver.†
Chpt 6.8 *

There was something rather bold in Miss Tulliver's direct gaze, and something undefinably coarse in the style of her beauty, which placed her, in the opinion of all feminine judges, far below her cousin Miss Deane; for the ladies of St. Ogg's had now completely ceded to Lucy their hypothetic claims on the admiration of Mr. Stephen Guest.†
Chpt 6.9 (definition 3)

On this last point Lucy had her cunning projects, and when she and Maggie had made their dangerous way down the bright stairs into the handsome parlor, where the very sunbeams seemed cleaner than elsewhere, she directed her manoeuvres, as any other great tactician would have done, against the weaker side of the enemy.†
Chpt 6.12

Her heart beat like the heart of a frightened bird; but this direct opposition helped her.†
Chpt 6.14

Maggie looked at him with her childlike directness as she had done at the bazaar, and said, "I want to tell you everything."†
Chpt 7.2 (definition 1)

At last Bob brought her a letter, without a postmark, directed in a hand which she knew familiarly in the letters of her own name,—a hand in which her name had been written long ago, in a pocket Shakespeare which she possessed.†
Chpt 7.3

The new life I have found in caring for your joy and sorrow more than for what is directly my own, has transformed the spirit of rebellious murmuring into that willing endurance which is the birth of strong sympathy.†
Chpt 7.3 (definition 4)

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Grouped by 6 Meanings

Definitions:

(1) (direct as in: was direct in my instructions)
straightforward (uncomplicated or simple -- perhaps also indicating openness and honesty, or little concern for others' feelings)

(2) (direct as in: depart directly)
without delay, or in the quickest manner, or without going somewhere else first

editor's notes: You may see the term direct flight used in a technical manner that is not as quick as a non-stop flight. In technical usage, a direct flight from Los Angeles to New York could stop at a city on the way, but you would not get off the plane during the stop.

(3) (direct as in: directly above; or buy direct from)
straight (exactly where stated); or without involvement of anything in between
The exact meaning of this sense of direct is subject to its context. For example:
- "The road runs directly to Las Vegas." -- straight (without varying from a straight line)
- "It was a direct hit." -- exact
- "The plant is in direct sunlight." -- unobstructed (without anything in between)
- "She wants a direct meeting with him." -- personal (without other people in between)
- "She paid direct attention to what he was reading." -- close
- "a direct gaze" -- straight, steady, or focused--not a brief glance taken while generally looking at other things; not a sideways look

(4) (direct as in: directed her question to)
to indicate direction; or to cause movement or focus in a direction or towards an object
The exact meaning of this sense of direct is subject to its context. For example:
- "intentionally directed fire at unarmed civilians" -- aimed a gun
- "directed the question to her" -- aimed a question
- "directed her north" -- pointed in a particular direction
- "directed attention to the 3rd paragraph" -- focused attention on a particular object
- "The sound of her voice directed him to the kitchen." -- guided or gave directions to someone to help them move to a particular place
- "She directed him to the airport." -- gave directions to send someone to a particular place
- "She directed the boat north." -- steered it
- "directed the letter to" -- send a letter to a particular person by putting a name and address on it

(direct as in: directed the jury to...)
give instructions or commands

direct in The Mill on the Floss

direct

in

The Mill on the Floss