directing point

I. Ordinary Language: 4. A point or position toward which one looks. 5. The act of addre ing, or inscribing with an All chance, direction which thou canst not see." Pope: E ay on Man , i. 289, 290, 11. A body of directors; a directorate. II. Technically : Eccles.: The guidance or function of a spiritual dviser or director. IMG:content-2576.png:[blocks in formation] "Nor visited by one directive ray, From cottage streaming, or from airy hall." Thomson: Autumn, 1,147, 1,148. II. Law : Pertaining to or containing directions as to things to be done; directory, in contradistinction to penal. "Subject to the laws thereof, as well in the penal, as in the directive part of them."-State Trials; Lieut.. Colonel Liburne (1649). di-rěct-lý, adv. [Eng.direct; -ly.] 1. In a direct or straight line; straight on; without deviation or deflection; rectilineally. "He proceeded directly along the street."-Scott: Cadyow Castle (Introd.). 2. By direct means; in a direct manner. Opposed to indirectly. "Indirectly and directly, too, Thou hast contrived against the very life Of the defendant." Shakesp.: Merchant of Venice, iv. 1. 3. Used much in the sense of exactly, precisely, IMG:content-2577.png:[merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small] 5. Without any intervening space; at once. "The ridges rise directly from the sea."-Cook: Voyages, vol. i., bk. i., ch. xvii. 6. Immediately, at once, very soon, without delay or hesitation, instantly. " Doct . Will she go now to bed? Gent. Directly." Shakesp.: Macbeth , v. 1. 7. On the instant that, as soon as. "Yet, directly we begin to follow him step by step there. is abundance to justify the contempt."-Quarterly Re. view, Jan., 1859, p. 72. 8. Openly, plainly, expre ly, without circumlocu. tion or ambiguity. "If you give me directly to understand you have pre. vailed."- Shakesp.: Cymbeline, i. 4. *9. Honestly, straightforwardly. "I have dealt most directly in thy affair."-Shakesp.: Othello, iv. 2. Crabb thus discriminates between directly, immediately , instantly , and instantaneously: " Di rectly is most applicable to the actions of men; immediately and instantly to either actions or events. Directly refers to the interruptions which may intentionally delay the commencement of any work; immediately in general refers to the space of time that intervenes. A diligent person goes directly to his work: he suffers nothing to draw him aside; good news is immediately spread abroad upon its , as; expect, Xenophon, exist. ph = f = shus. -ble, -dle, . = bel, del arrival. Immediately and instantly , or in stantaneously, both mark a quick succe ion of events, but the latter in a much stronger degree than the former. Immediately is negative: it expre es simply that nothing intervenes; instantly is positive, signifying the very existing moment in which the thing happens. A person who is of a willing disposition goes or runs immediately to the a istance of another; but the ardor of affection impels him to fly instantly to his relief, as he sees the danger A course of proceeding is direct , the consequences are immediate , and the effects instantaneous." (Crabb: Eng. Synon . ) directly-proportional, a. Math .: A term used in contradistinction to the term inversely proportional. Two quantities are directly proportional when they both increase or decrease together, and in such a manner that their ratio shall be constant.