1. Referring to the shortest way without any diversion: Mary didn’t want to transfer planes on her way from Toronto to Frankfurt, so she took the direct route.
2. Pertaining to a light or heat source which is not blocked or reflected: The direct rays of the sun were not good for the plants in Jane’s garden because they needed shade instead.
3. Concerning something which takes place without any interference or go-betweens: The direct results of Mary’s baking were fabulous cookies, which smelled fantastic and tasted delicious!
4. Characteristic of someone who is being frank and straight to the point: Tom wanted to be very direct and say exactly what he meant and not cause any misunderstandings.
5. Relating to the exact wording of what a person has said: The direct quotations used in the book that Julia was citing had footnotes at the bottom of each page.
6. Denoting the sequence from parent to offspring: The story goes that Mark is the direct descendent of the owner of the old house down the street and he will be its inheritor. 

1. To manage something; to oversee; to preside over: The school administration will supervise, or direct, the use of the library next year.
2. To conduct a group of musicians: The new music teacher at the school will be directing the choir at the concert at the end of the school year.
3. To aim something in a certain direction or at a particular person: The smile on Jack’s face was directed at Jill, his girlfriend!
4. To tell someone how to go someplace: Since Rebecca didn’t know the way to the theater, Lynn, who was in the passenger seat of the car, easily directed her there.
5. To give instructions for the shipment or delivery of a package or written communication: The letter that was in David’s mailbox wasn’t directed to him, but to a friend of his who had a similar name.

The act of listening to the internal sounds of the body, and in this case, it is performed without the stethoscope: Tom used direct auscultation to determine if he could detect the heartbeats of his unborn child inside his wife’s uterus.

The measurement of serum or blood ions; such as, sodium, chloride, and potassium, without prior dilution of the sample: The direct measurement of electrolytes is considered to be more nearly accurate than analysis by indirect methods because it is not susceptible to error in cases of hyperlipidemia or excess lipids (fatty, greasy, oily, and waxy compounds) in the blood.

An device that is designed to visualize the interior of the eye, with the instrument relatively close to the subject's eye and the observer viewing an upright magnified image: In order to give the Sarah the best advice regarding her macular degeneration, the eye doctor used a direct ophthalmoscope in a darkened room to examine the retina and macula of the eye.

The movement of blood directly from one person to another one: Direct transfusion is the medical process of a person’s vital body fluid being given straight from the donor to the recipient by using an interconnecting hollow tube.

The observation of an object on which the part of the retina of each eye distinguishes the fine details at the center of the field of vision that the eyes are focused on: Dr. Rebecca Bond, the ophthalmologist, determined that Joseph’s direct vision was normal because the image of the item he saw fell directly on the yellow spot, or macula lutea, of his eyes.

1. An electronic instrument which adjusts the speed of a DC (direct current) motor when it is driven by an AC (alternating current) power line.
2. A control circuit used to change or to vary the speed of a direct-current (DC) motor operated from an alternating-current (AC) power line.

Silicon controlled rectifiers or power transistors rectify or correct the voltage and vary the field current of the motor.

Examination of the interior of the larynx, especially that which is performed with the laryngoscope.