All 50 Uses of

direct
in
The Sunlight Dialogues

Kozlowski bent toward her, apologetic as a funeral director.†
Chpt 1

director = supervisor (person in charge)

standard suffix: The suffix "-or" often converts a verb to a noun that means "a person who." This is the pattern you see in words like actor, editor, and visitor.

I'm directly responsible for every man in my department, and for the welfare of every man, woman, and child in the City of Batavia.†
Chpt 2

directly = personally or closely

He'd gone there it must be a hundred times before and since, but that time stood out in his mind even now—the gleam of the polished bars directly in the path of the morning sun, the distinct grillwork of shadows in the cell falling away toward the canvas pallet and the metal John and the boy.†
Chpt 3

directly = straight (exactly where stated; used for emphasis)

Warshower's very way of living, his stubborn, uncomplicated directness, was a sermon of hope to Hodge.†
Chpt 3 *

directness = the quality or degree of being straightforward or clear (sometimes indicating that truth is not worded carefully to spare feelings or gain advantage)

Given the same combination of gifts but other aspirations—an aspiration, for instance, to be an operatic singer—he might have been an unexceptional man: a restless farmer, a timid seducer of hired girls, a small-town choir director, a drunkard.†
Chpt 3

director = supervisor (person in charge)

standard suffix: The suffix "-or" often converts a verb to a noun that means "a person who." This is the pattern you see in words like actor, editor, and visitor.

Hodge had gone directly to the car with him, and there, some distance from the honking and whirring of the carnival machines, the oceanic murmur of the crowd, he had said, "Luke know you came here?"†
Chpt 3

directly = straight (without delay or interruption)

Only a small patch of the wide, sloping lawn was mowed, a square directly in front of the balustered and pillared porch.†
Chpt 4 *

directly = close

There was anger in his voice, but now it was not anger directed toward her.†
Chpt 4 *

directed = aimed or focused

And no doubt it will always remain so, for all the labors of psychologists, sociologists, criminologists, and so on, and for all the honest effort of those most directly involved in the problem—law-enforcement agencies themselves.†
Chpt 5

directly = personally

Directly under her eyes he palmed the cigarette, made it reappear, palmed it, made it appear, and continued to do it, over and over, mechanical.†
Chpt 5

directly = close, or in a straight line

Directly in front of his house, in the dappled shadows under the maple trees, by the sidewalk, there was a car—not hidden, though not out in the glare of the streetlamp either—impossible to miss except by a trick of one's vision.†
Chpt 5

directly = close

Danny's and Madeline's voices came from outside now, and when he pulled back the plastic curtain he found he could see them, in the driveway almost directly below him.†
Chpt 8

directly = close, or in a straight line

Another time a truck plunged slowly and solemnly over the curb directly in front of him and there, without a sound, turned over, like an elephant falling dead with a heart attack.†
Chpt 9

directly = close

The black cloud had grown and was spread over the whole sky, and now forked lightning lit up the yard and outlined the metal trailer and the house with its crumbling porch, and thunder rolled directly overhead.†
Chpt 10

directly = close, or in a straight line

Before he could count three a violent roar exploded directly over him and went rolling along the sky, and then came hurtling rain.†
Chpt 10

directly = straight (exactly where stated; used for emphasis)

The place he'd been told to come stood directly in front of him, a hundred yards down the track.†
Chpt 11

directly = close

It hung suspended from the railroad trestle, directly in the path of any train that might come.†
Chpt 11

directly = straight (exactly where stated; used for emphasis)

But when he moved toward the door Nick leaned forward, half-standing, aiming the pistol directly at him, and Luke was afraid.†
Chpt 12

The boy's queer directness, openness—rudeness it would be in the world Hodge knew—stood outside all the rules he understood.†
Chpt 13

directness = the quality or degree of being straightforward or clear (sometimes indicating that truth is not worded carefully to spare feelings or gain advantage)

"That's not directly related—" He frowned again.†
Chpt 13

directly = closely

The Secretary shall issue notices of all members of stockholders and directors where notices of such meetings are required by law or these By-Laws.†
Chpt 14

directors = members of a board that oversee the affairs of a corporation or other institution; or supervisors (people in charge)

He shall attend all meetings of stock-holders and of the Board of Directors and keep the minutes thereof.†
Chpt 14

board of directors = members of a board that oversee the affairs of a corporation or other institution

He shall affix the corporate seal to and sign his signature and shall perform such other duties as usually pertain to his office or as are properly required of him by the board of directors.†
Chpt 14

Nick stood still, directly facing him.†
Chpt 15

directly = exactly where stated (used for emphasis)

Benson turned, and the man pointed with his thumb at the green padded leather door directly behind them.†
Chpt 17

directly = close, or in a straight line

The car parked directly behind him started up at almost the same moment.†
Chpt 17

It seemed to Will—but it was hard to be sure—that the directness made Kleppmann uneasy.†
Chpt 18

directness = the quality or degree of being straightforward or clear (sometimes indicating that truth is not worded carefully to spare feelings or gain advantage)

I suspect if the truth were known he might be directly responsible for ...the patient's condition.†
Chpt 19

directly = personally or closely

She could hear someone moving in the upstairs bathroom, directly over her head.†
Chpt 20

directly = straight (exactly where stated; used for emphasis)

As he stood wondering where the entrance might be, a small door opened directly in front of him, and he found himself looking in at a clean, neatly swept room where an oil lamp burned.†
Chpt 21

directly = close

He can hear the radio directly over his head.†
Chpt 23

directly = straight (exactly where stated; used for emphasis)

The front drawer was open a little, and though he knew it was not where he'd put the gun—and knew, in fact actually seemed to see through the back of his head, that the Sunlight Man was directly behind him, standing in front of the file cabinets, smiling at him out of a face burnt black as coal—he opened the drawer farther and groped inside it.†
Chpt 23

directly = close, or in a straight line

For some reason they can't pay the rent direct—I don't know what the technicality is.†
Chpt 1

Three fire engines went by, some blocks away, the last two hard on the tail of the first, from the sound of it, and their sirens howled along the twilight like the cranes he'd heard once crossing the sky in single file directly over the ship.†
Chpt 1

He turned his chair a little to face the man more directly.†
Chpt 2

Sometimes he spoke not to his brother but directly to Boyle, or, rather, directly at Boyle's carefully impassive back.†
Chpt 2

Sometimes he spoke not to his brother but directly to Boyle, or, rather, directly at Boyle's carefully impassive back.†
Chpt 2

What the old man was unable to manage directly (and would not have wanted to manage anyhow, being a moral person) his ghost had managed indirectly: he tyrannized Hodge—if a thing so trifling was worth a big word like tyranny—through Millie his wife (or former wife), Will Jr, and Luke, his sons.†
Chpt 3

What the old man was unable to manage directly (and would not have wanted to manage anyhow, being a moral person) his ghost had managed indirectly: he tyrannized Hodge—if a thing so trifling was worth a big word like tyranny—through Millie his wife (or former wife), Will Jr, and Luke, his sons.†
Chpt 3

indirectly = not in a straightforward manner (complicated, incidental, or unintentional)

standard prefix: The prefix "in-" in indirectly means not and reverses the meaning of directly. This is the same pattern you see in words like invisible, incomplete, and insecure.

Luke should have come to you directly, c'est vrai.†
Chpt 3

But again he said no, and now, directly challenged, he straightened out his mind.†
Chpt 3

No message comes over his radio directing him to a corner where he will find a man whose conversation would be worth gold and silver and all one's best linen.†
Chpt 5

Clumly could say for Figlow, at least, that he was the first after Miller to see with perfect clarity that the Chief of Police had—as Figlow put it directly to Clumly an hour after the pistol-whipping of the Indian boy—a screw loose.†
Chpt 5

They were the founders of astrology, and, indirectly, of astronomy.†
Chpt 7

indirectly = not in a straightforward manner (complicated, incidental, or unintentional)

standard prefix: The prefix "in-" in indirectly means not and reverses the meaning of directly. This is the same pattern you see in words like invisible, incomplete, and insecure.

Direct, no running around Robin Hood's barn.†
Chpt 9

She was speaking directly—unmistakably—to Clumly.†
Chpt 9

Benson lifted his head a little and drew the spraycan up close to his chest, prepared to spray whatever was in it directly into Nuper's eyes the moment he reached through the window or opened the door.†
Chpt 10

She rode with her eyes clenched tightly shut—she could have told him the turn, could easily have directed him anywhere in the city—but she was still full of sorrow over forcing him again to admit his stupidity; and it pleased her to see him go wrong, see him knowing he could not get anywhere without her.†
Chpt 12

At last Taggert said, directly to Ben, as if speaking to him, not the others, "There's nobody here.†
Chpt 15

young women with enormous rear ends and cheap, shiny shoes that let most of their feet show through—but most of them didn't look poor, in fact they looked rich, to Benson, rich and directly dangerous: a man just ahead of him with a goat's beard and the curved dark glasses murderers wear on television;†
Chpt 17

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Best Example Sentences
From Other Sources
Grouped by 3 Meanings

Definitions:

(1) (direct as in: directly above; or buy direct)
without anything in between -- whether in time, space, or involvement
(2) (direct as in: gave a direct answer)
straightforward -- often clear, open, or blunt in speech or behavior
(3) (direct as in: direct a question; or direct a film)
to guide, aim, or manage -- such as actions, attention, speech, a project or company
(4) (meaning too rare to warrant focus)
meaning too rare to warrant focus:

Direct can take on many specialized meanings not included in this dictionary.
As an adjective or adverb, direct usually means there is a clear or straight connection with nothing in the way. It can also mean easy to understand, without confusion. For example:
- Direct action – taking quick and clear steps to make something happen
- Direct descendant – someone who comes straight from an ancestor, like a grandchild
- Direct line (in genealogy) – a family connection that goes straight from one generation to the next
- Direct deposit – money that is sent straight into a bank account
- Direct object – in a sentence, the person or thing that receives the action of the verb
- Direct kick – in sports, a kick where the ball can go straight into the goal without touching another player
- Direct cost – a cost that comes straight from making a product or providing a service
- Direct investment – putting money directly into a company or project
- Direct elections – when people vote for leaders without going through an extra step
- Direct current (DC) – a type of electric flow that moves in only one direction
As a verb, most all of the senses of direct involve giving orders or aiming.

Page Numbers by Book Edition

direct in The Sunlight Dialogues

direct
in
The Sunlight Dialogues