straight Hear it!

straight Definition

straight (strāt)

adjective

  1. having the same direction throughout its length; having no curvature or angularity a straight line
  2. not crooked, bent, bowed, wavy, curly, etc. straight hair
  3. upright; erect straight posture
  4. level; even a straight hemline
  5. with all cylinders in a direct line; in-line: said of some internal-combustion engines
  6. direct; undeviating, uninterrupted, etc. to hold a straight course
  7. ☆ following strictly the principles, slate of candidates, etc. of a political party
  8. following a direct or systematic course of reasoning, etc.; methodical; accurate
  9. in order; properly arranged, etc. to put a room straight
    1. honest; sincere; upright
    2. reliable; factual straight information
  11. outspoken; frank
  12. ☆
    1. without anything added or mixed in; undiluted a straight shot of whiskey
    2. not blended with neutral grain spirits
  13. not qualified, modified, slanted, etc. a straight denial
  14. ☆ at a fixed price per unit regardless of the quantity bought or sold apples at ten cents straight
  15. ☆ Slang
    1. normal or conventional, as in one's lifestyle; also, square ()
    2. heterosexual
    3. not using drugs, alcohol, etc.

Etymology: ME streght, pp. of strecchen, to stretch

adverb

  1. in a straight line or direction; unswervingly
  2. upright; erectly
    1. without detour, delay, etc. go straight to bed
    2. without equivocation, circumlocution, etc.; directly tell it straight
    3. without alteration, addition, etc. play the role straight
  4. in an honest, law-abiding manner go straight

noun

  1. the quality or condition of being straight
  2. something straight; specif.,
    1. the straight part of a racetrack between the last turn and the winning post
    2. ☆ Poker a hand consisting of any five cards in sequence: it ranks just above three of a kind and below a flush
  3. Slang
    1. a straight, or conventional, person
    2. a heterosexual

straight Related Forms
straight′ly adverb straight′·ness noun
straight Idioms

straight off

at once; without delay

straight up

served without ice: said of alcoholic beverages

the straight and narrow (path)

a morally strict code of behavior

straight Synonyms

straight

modif.

  1. Not curved or twisted

    rectilinear, vertical, perpendicular, rectilineal, plumb, upright, erect, in line with, unbent, in a line, on a line, in a row, inflexible, undeviating, even, level.

    Antonyms bent*, curved, curving.

  2. Direct

    uninterrupted, continuous, through; see direct 1.

  3. Correct

    right, orderly, exact; see accurate 1.

  4. Honest

    good, reliable, honorable; see decent 2, honest 1, moral 1, upright 2.

  5. Unmixed

    out-and-out, undiluted, plain, neat; see concentrated 1, pure 1.

go straight*

obey the law, avoid crime, live a decent life; see behave 2.

the straight and narrow path

good conduct, proper behavior, righteousness, morality; see honesty 1, virtue 1, 2.

straight Usage Examples

Preposition: at

  • keeper: Harte hit 2 long range efforts straight at the keeper.

Preposition: through

  • cable: Note: The Ethernet network cable that is supplied with your Network Adaptor is not a crossover cable, but a straight through cable.

Adjective complement with noun phrase

  • send: More recently, in January 2001 the Section 51 provisions for sending indictable only cases straight to the Crown Court were implemented nationally.

Adjective modifier

  • dire: At the time, Yellowhammers were in dire straights in the Province and were already absent from two Counties.

Modifies a noun

  • line: Normal press ups, aim to keep a straight line through your back.
  • edge: The straight edge at the top left shows the Si 110 plane.
  • jacket: Are they at best a waste of time, or at worst a straight jacket for the primary curriculum?
  • defeat: Portsmouth Reserves fell to their fourth straight defeat after getting caned by Chelsea Reserves tonight at Fratton Park.
  • swap: It should be a straight swap for your existing wired keyboard and mouse.
  • path: Pull Phase From the start position the hand follows a straight path pulling underneath the center of the body.

Modifying Another Word

  • fairly: Hole 1. Par 5 S/I 7. A fairly straight forward hole to start with.
  • relatively: Past Dean Bridge the river bends initially to the left then runs through a relatively straight course through a remarkably deep dell.
  • back: Coming out of the chicane, going to the back straight to Canada Corner, the bike almost stopped.
  • pretty: It's a pretty straight, stony, tree lined track in a gully, cutting across between two roads.
  • almost: Carter slots over the penalty with his left boot from almost straight in front of the posts.
  • dead: The next stretch is dead straight and forms part of the boundary of the LBs of Greenwich and Bromley.

Used with adjective complement

  • finish: The championship is in our grasp now and we are all in the finishing straight.
  • go: It is the teaching of the Bible alone that goes straight to the basic issue.

Preposition: in

  • eye: The bottom of one of my walking poles hit me straight in the eye.
  • front: Carter slots over the penalty with his left boot from almost straight in front of the posts.
straight Quotes

   Round and round the circle Completing the charm So the knot be unknotted The cross be uncrossed The crooked be made straight And the curse be ended.

—Eliot,T(homas) S(tearns)

You don't need to be 'straight'to fight and die for your country.You just need to shoot straight.

—Goldwater, Barry M(orris)

So the people shouted when the priests blew with the trumpets: and it came to pass, when the people heard thesound of thetrumpet, and the peopleshouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city. 90

—Bible (Old Testament)

I have come to the borders of sleep, The unfathomable deep Forest, where all must lose Their way, however straight Or winding, soon or late; They cannot choose.

—Thomas, (Philip) Edward

That's what you always said, success isn't everything but it makes a man stand straight, and you were right.

—Hellman, Lillian Florence

Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the L hand double for all her sins. The voice of himthat crieth in the wilderness,Prepare ye the way of the L, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valleyshall be exalted,and everymountainand hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: And the glory of the L shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the L hath spoken it. The voicesaid,Cry. And hesaid,What shall Icry? All flesh isgrass, and all thegoodlinessthereof isastheflowerof the field: The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the L bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.

—Bible (Old Testament)

He turned the old one-stringed instrument into a many- chorded lyre† W.G. discovered batting; he turned its many narrow straight channels into one great winding river.

—Ranjitsinhji, Prince

Aus so krummen Holze, als woraus der Mensch gemacht ist, kann nichts ganz Gerades gezimmert werden. Out of the crooked timber of humanity, no straight thing can ever be made.

—Kant, Immanuel

He was afflicted by the thought that where Beauty was, nothing ever ran quite straight, which, no doubt, was why so many people looked on it as immoral.

—Galsworthy,John

Next tobeing right inthis world, thebest of all things isto be clearly and definitely wrong. If you go buzzing about between right and wrong, vibrating and fluctuating, you come out nowhere; but if you are absolutelyand thoroughlyand persistently wrong you must, some of these days, have the extreme good fortune of knocking yourheadagainstafact, andthat setsyouallstraightagain.

—Huxley,T(homas) H(enry)

Here is all straight and narrow as a tomb Oh shut me not within a little room.

—Smith, Stevie (Florence Margaret)

I had shown my colors. Those who took their red straight, without a chaser of white and blue, were not mollified.

—Acheson, Dean Gooderham