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Direct vs Towards - What's the difference?

direct | towards |

As adjectives the difference between direct and towards

is that direct is straight, constant, without interruption while towards is (obsolete) near; at hand; in state of preparation; toward.

As adverbs the difference between direct and towards

is that direct is directly while towards is (obsolete) in the direction of something (indicated by context).

As a verb direct

is to manage, control, steer.

As a preposition towards is

variant of toward.

direct

English

Adjective

(er)
  • Straight, constant, without interruption.
  • Straight; not crooked, oblique, or circuitous; leading by the short or shortest way to a point or end.
  • the most direct route between two buildings
  • Straightforward; sincere.
  • * Shakespeare
  • Be even and direct with me.
  • Immediate; express; plain; unambiguous.
  • * John Locke
  • He nowhere, that I know, says it in direct words.
  • * Hallam
  • a direct and avowed interference with elections
  • In the line of descent; not collateral.
  • a descendant in the direct line
  • (astronomy) In the direction of the general planetary motion, or from west to east; in the order of the signs; not retrograde; said of the motion of a celestial body.
  • Antonyms

    * indirect

    Derived terms

    * direct action * direct current * direct flight * direct initiative * direct object * direct quote

    Adverb

    (en adverb)
  • Directly.
  • * 2009 , Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall , Fourth Estate 2010, p. 346:
  • Presumably Mary is to carry messages that she, Anne, is too delicate to convey direct .

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To manage, control, steer.
  • to direct the affairs of a nation or the movements of an army
  • To aim (something) at (something else).
  • They directed their fire towards the men on the wall.
    He directed his question to the room in general.
  • To point out or show to (somebody) the right course or way; to guide, as by pointing out the way.
  • He directed me to the left-hand road.
  • * Lubbock
  • the next points to which I will direct your attention
  • To point out to with authority; to instruct as a superior; to order.
  • She directed them to leave immediately.
  • * Shakespeare
  • I'll first direct my men what they shall do.
  • (dated) To put a direction or address upon; to mark with the name and residence of the person to whom anything is sent.
  • to direct a letter

    Anagrams

    * * ----

    towards

    English

    Preposition

    (en-prep) (mainly in British English )
  • Variant of toward.
  • * 1835 , Sir , Sir (James Clark Ross), Narrative of a Second Voyage in Search of a North-west Passage …, Volume 1 , pp.284-5
  • Towards the following morning, the thermometer fell to 5°; and at daylight, there was not an atom of water to be seen in any direction.
  • * {{quote-news, year=2011, date=October 1, author=Phil McNulty, work=BBC Sport
  • , title= Everton 0-2 Liverpool , passage=But with Goodison Park openly directing its full hostility towards Atkinson, Liverpool went ahead when Carroll turned in his first Premier League goal of the season after 70 minutes.}}

    Synonyms

    * toward

    Usage notes

    * Although some have tried to discern a semantic distinction between the words (term) and (towards), the difference is merely dialectal. (term) is the most common form, while (toward) tends to appear only in American English.

    See also

    * See

    Adverb

    (en adverb)
  • (obsolete) In the direction of something (indicated by context).
  • * 1590 , Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene , II.iv:
  • Thus as he spake, lo far away they spyde / A varlet running towards hastily [...].

    Adjective

    (-)
  • (obsolete) Near; at hand; in state of preparation; toward.
  • * Shakespeare
  • We have a trifling foolish banquet / Towards .

    Statistics

    * English prepositions