DIRECT in LIGHT IN AUGUST - verbalworkout.com

3 meanings, 16 uses

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1 —4 uses as in:
depart directly

Definition

without delay, or in the quickest manner, or without going somewhere else first

Other Uses (with this meaning)

Once in the room, he went directly on his bare and silent feet to the washstand and found the tube.
Chapter 6 (3% in)
On that first day when he discovered the toothpaste in her room he had gone directly there, who had never heard of toothpaste either; as if he already knew that she would possess something of that nature and he would find it.
Chapter 6 (6% in)
He went directly to the table where she set out his food.
Chapter 11 (24% in)

There are no more uses of "direct" flagged with this meaning in Light in August.

Typical Usage (best examples)

2 —6 uses as in:
directly above; or buy direct from

Definition

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

Though he was looking directly at her face he did not seem to see her at all, his eyes did not.
Chapter 6 (38% in)

Other Uses (with this meaning)

He was walking directly toward them, walking fast.
Chapter 5 (89% in)
The rope hung directly before the window.
Chapter 8 (1% in)
He was sitting back now, completely unaware that he was riding directly behind desperate terror.
Chapter 12 (91% in)
He had come direct from a negro church twenty miles away, where a revival meeting was in nightly progress.
Chapter 14 (13% in)
Thus he hears no sound at all until Byron speaks directly behind him: "Get up onto your feet."
Chapter 18 (86% in)

There are no more uses of "direct" flagged with this meaning in Light in August.

Typical Usage (best examples)

3 —1 use as in:
was direct in my instructions

Definition

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

There are no more uses of "direct" flagged with this meaning in Light in August.

Typical Usage (best examples)

? —5 uses
exact meaning not specified

It was brief; it was an order almost, directing him to come to the house that night.
Chapter 12 (38% in)

Both their faces are just without the direct downward pool of light from the shaded lamp.
Chapter 4 (1% in)
Even when she addressed Joe directly it was as if she still spoke to Max.
Chapter 8 (82% in)
It had taken her some time, because when she looked toward where the loose plank was, he was already approaching toward the bed, where the moonlight fell directly, and she watched him empty the tin can onto the bed and sweep the small mass of coins and bills into his hand and ram the hand into his pocket.
Chapter 9 (43% in)
Their relations were peaceable enough, being on the son's part a cold, humorless, automatically respectful reserve, and on the father's a bluff, direct, coarsely vivid humor which lacked less of purport than wit.
Chapter 20 (16% in)

There are no more uses of "direct" in Light in August.

Typical Usage (best examples)

direct used in Light in August