direction

di·rec·tion (d

-r

n, d

1. The act or function of directing.

2. Management, supervision, or guidance of an action or operation.

3. The art or action of musical or theatrical directing.

4. Music A word or phrase in a score indicating how a passage is to be played or sung.

5. An instruction or series of instructions for doing or finding something. Often used in the plural.

6. An authoritative indication; an order or command.

a. The distance-independent relationship between two points in space that specifies the angular position of either with respect to the other; the relationship by which the alignment or orientation of any position with respect to any other position is established.

b. A position to which motion or another position is referred.

c. A line leading to a place or point.

d. The line or course along which a person or thing moves.

8. The statement in degrees of the angle measured between due north and a given line or course on a compass.

9. A course or area of development; a tendency toward a particular end or goal: charting a new direction for the company.

[Middle English, arrangement, from Latin drcti, drctin-, from drctus, past participle of drigere, to direct; see direct.]

di·rection·less adj.

direction

Noun

1. the course or line along which a person or thing moves, points, or lies

2. management or guidance: the campaign was successful under his direction

3. the work of a stage or film director

In artillery and naval gunfire support, a term used by a spotter and/or observer in a call for fire to indicate the bearing of the spotting line. See also bearing; call for fire; naval gunfire support; spotter; spotting line.

ThesaurusLegend: Synonyms Related Words Antonyms

Noun	1.	direction - a line leading to a place or point; "he looked the other direction"; "didn't know the way home" way itinerary, route, path - an established line of travel or access bearing, heading, aim - the direction or path along which something moves or along which it lies trend, course - general line of orientation; "the river takes a southern course"; "the northeastern trend of the coast" east-west direction - in a direction parallel with lines of latitude north-south direction - in a direction parallel with lines of longitude qibla - the direction of the Kaaba toward which Muslims turn for their daily prayers trend, tendency - a general direction in which something tends to move; "the shoreward tendency of the current"; "the trend of the stock market"
	2.	direction - the spatial relation between something and the course along which it points or moves; "he checked the direction and velocity of the wind" spatial relation, position - the spatial property of a place where or way in which something is situated; "the position of the hands on the clock"; "he specified the spatial relations of every piece of furniture on the stage" frontage - the direction in which something (such as a building) faces orientation - position or alignment relative to points of the compass or other specific directions opposition - a direction opposite to another windward - the direction from which the wind is coming leeward - the direction in which the wind is blowing seaward - the direction toward the sea compass point, point - any of 32 horizontal directions indicated on the card of a compass; "he checked the point on his compass" compass north, magnetic north, north - the direction in which a compass needle points north - the direction corresponding to the northward cardinal compass point northeast - the direction corresponding to the northeastward compass point east - the direction corresponding to the eastward cardinal compass point southeast - the direction corresponding to the southeastward compass point south - the direction corresponding to the southward cardinal compass point southwest - the direction corresponding to the southwestward compass point west - the direction corresponding to the westward cardinal compass point northwest - the direction corresponding to the northwestward compass point
	3.	direction - a general course along which something has a tendency to develop; "I couldn't follow the direction of his thoughts"; "his ideals determined the direction of his career"; "they proposed a new direction for the firm" inclination, tendency, disposition - an attitude of mind especially one that favors one alternative over others; "he had an inclination to give up too easily"; "a tendency to be too strict" tenor - a settled or prevailing or habitual course of a person's life; "nothing disturbed the even tenor of her ways"
	4.	direction - something that provides direction or advice as to a decision or course of action counseling, counselling, guidance, counsel road map, guideline - a detailed plan or explanation to guide you in setting standards or determining a course of action; "the president said he had a road map for normalizing relations with Vietnam" subject matter, content, message, substance - what a communication that is about something is about career counseling - counseling on career opportunities cynosure - something that provides guidance (as Polaris guides mariners); "let faith be your cynosure to walk by" genetic counseling - guidance for prospective parents on the likelihood of genetic disorders in their future children marriage counseling - counseling on marital problems and disagreements confidential information, steer, tip, wind, hint, lead - an indication of potential opportunity; "he got a tip on the stock market"; "a good lead for a job"
	5.	direction - the act of managing something; "he was given overall management of the program"; "is the direction of the economy a function of government?" management social control - control exerted (actively or passively) by group action conducting - the direction of an orchestra or choir; "he does not use a baton for conducting" database management - creation and maintenance of a database finance - the management of money and credit and banking and investments homemaking - the management of a household misconduct - bad or dishonest management by persons supposed to act on another's behalf mismanagement, misdirection - management that is careless or inefficient; "he accomplished little due to the mismanagement of his energies" treatment, handling - the management of someone or something; "the handling of prisoners"; "the treatment of water sewage"; "the right to equal treatment in the criminal justice system" superintendence, supervising, supervision, oversight - management by overseeing the performance or operation of a person or group administration, disposal - a method of tending to or managing the affairs of a some group of people (especially the group's business affairs) empowerment, authorisation, authorization - the act of conferring legality or sanction or formal warrant disenfranchisement - the act of withdrawing certification or terminating a franchise channelisation, channelization, canalisation, canalization - management through specified channels of communication steering, guidance - the act of guiding or showing the way
	6.	direction - a message describing how something is to be done; "he gave directions faster than she could follow them" instruction subject matter, content, message, substance - what a communication that is about something is about rule - any one of a systematic body of regulations defining the way of life of members of a religious order; "the rule of St. Dominic" prescript, rule - prescribed guide for conduct or action rubric - directions for the conduct of Christian church services (often printed in red in a prayer book) misdirection - incorrect directions or instructions name and address, destination, address - written directions for finding some location; written on letters or packages that are to be delivered to that location markup - detailed stylistic instructions for typesetting something that is to be printed; manual markup is usually written on the copy (e.g. underlining words that are to be set in italics) prescription - directions prescribed beforehand; the action of prescribing authoritative rules or directions; "I tried to follow her prescription for success" recipe, formula - directions for making something rule - directions that define the way a game or sport is to be conducted; "he knew the rules of chess" stage direction - an instruction written as part of the script of a play style - editorial directions to be followed in spelling and punctuation and capitalization and typographical display system command - a computer user's instruction (not part of a program) that calls for action by the computer's executive program
	7.	direction - the act of setting and holding a course; "a new council was installed under the direction of the king" steering, guidance driving - the act of controlling and steering the movement of a vehicle or animal control - the activity of managing or exerting control over something; "the control of the mob by the police was admirable" aim - the action of directing something at an object; "he took aim and fired" navigation, pilotage, piloting - the guidance of ships or airplanes from place to place celestial guidance - a method of controlling the flight of a missile or spacecraft by reference to the positions of celestial bodies inertial guidance, inertial navigation - a method of controlling the flight of a missile by devices that respond to inertial forces command guidance - a method of controlling the flight of a missile by commands originating from the ground or from another missile terrestrial guidance - a method of controlling the flight of a missile by devices that respond to the strength and direction of the earth's gravitational field
	8.	direction - a formal statement of a command or injunction to do something; "the judge's charge to the jury" commission, charge bid, bidding, command, dictation - an authoritative direction or instruction to do something misdirection - an incorrect charge to a jury given by a judge
	9.	direction - the concentration of attention or energy on something; "the focus of activity shifted to molecular biology"; "he had no direction in his life" centering, focus, focusing, focussing, focal point engrossment, immersion, absorption, concentration - complete attention; intense mental effort particularism - a focus on something particular