DIRECT in THE SCARLET LETTER - verbalworkout.com

3 meanings, 11 uses

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1 —8 uses as in:
directly above; or buy direct from

Definition

straight (exactly where stated); or without involvement of anything in between
—including such senses as:

straight (without varying from a straight line)
exact (without other factors)
close (with other factors minimized)
personal (without other people in between)
unobstructed (without anything in between)
of a look: straight, steady, or focused—not a brief glance taken while generally looking at other things; not a sideways look

It has already been noticed that directly over the platform on which Hester Prynne stood was a kind of balcony, or open gallery, appended to the meeting-house.
Chapter 3 -- The Recognition (42% in)

directly = where stated (used for emphasis)

Other Uses (with this meaning)

...was their fuss about little matters, and marvellous, sometimes, the obtuseness that allowed greater ones to slip between their fingers Whenever such a mischance occurred—when a waggon-load of valuable merchandise had been smuggled ashore, at noonday, perhaps, and directly beneath their unsuspicious noses—nothing could exceed the vigilance and alacrity with which they proceeded to lock, and double-lock, and secure with tape and sealing-wax, all the avenues of the delinquent vessel.
Introductory (28% in)
[of a rose-bush] Finding it so directly on the threshold of our narrative, which is now about to issue from that inauspicious portal, we could hardly do otherwise than pluck one of its flowers, and present it to the reader. It may serve, let us hope, to symbolise some sweet moral blossom that may be found along the track, or relieve the darkening close of a tale of human frailty and sorrow.
Chapter 1 -- The Prison Door (87% in)

directly = where stated (used for emphasis)

The feeling that it so evidently manifested, rather than the direct purport of the words, caused it to vibrate within all hearts, and brought the listeners into one accord of sympathy.
Chapter 3 -- The Recognition (82% in)

direct = exact

Here, then, was a wide and reasonably lofty hall, extending through the whole depth of the house, and forming a medium of general communication, more or less directly, with all the other apartments.
Chapter 7 -- The Governor's Hall (62% in)

directly = without anything in between

Cabbages grew in plain sight; and a pumpkin-vine, rooted at some distance, had run across the intervening space, and deposited one of its gigantic products directly beneath the hall window, as if to warn the Governor that this great lump of vegetable gold was as rich an ornament as New England earth would offer him.
Chapter 7 -- The Governor's Hall (93% in)

directly = exactly where stated (used for emphasis)

And here by a sudden impulse, she turned to the young clergyman, Mr. Dimmesdale, at whom, up to this moment, she had seemed hardly so much as once to direct her eyes.
Chapter 8 -- The Elf-child and the Minister (56% in)

direct = focus

The physician advanced directly in front of his patient, laid his hand upon his bosom, and thrust aside the vestment, that hitherto had always covered it even from the professional eye.
Chapter 10 -- The Leech and his Patient (95% in)

directly = close (without anything in between)

There are no more uses of "direct" flagged with this meaning in The Scarlet Letter.

Typical Usage (best examples)

2 —2 uses as in:
was direct in my instructions

Definition

straightforward (uncomplicated or simple — perhaps also indicating openness and honesty)

The directness of this appeal drew the eyes of the whole crowd upon the Reverend Mr. Dimmesdale—young clergyman, who had come from one of the great English universities, bringing all the learning of the age into our wild forest land.
Chapter 3 -- The Recognition (65% in)

directness = the quality of being straightforward or clear

God, as a direct consequence of the sin which man thus punished, had given her a lovely child, whose place was on that same dishonoured bosom, to connect her parent for ever with the race and descent of mortals, and to be finally a blessed soul in heaven!
Chapter 6 -- Pearl (5% in)

direct = clear

There are no more uses of "direct" flagged with this meaning in The Scarlet Letter.

Typical Usage (best examples)

3 —1 use as in:
directed her question to

Definition

to indicate direction; or cause movement or focus in a direction or towards an object — such as

Even the poor baby at Hester's bosom was affected by the same influence, for it directed its hitherto vacant gaze towards Mr. Dimmesdale, and held up its little arms with a half-pleased, half-plaintive murmur.
Chapter 3 -- The Recognition (83% in)

directed = focused

There are no more uses of "direct" flagged with this meaning in The Scarlet Letter.

Typical Usage (best examples)

direct used in The Scarlet Letter