direct democracy

[dih-rekt, dahy-]

di·rect

[dih-rekt, dahy-]
verb (used with object)
1.
to manage or guide by advice, helpful information, instruction, etc.: He directed the company through a difficult time.
2.
to regulate the course of; control: History is directed by a small number of great men and women.
3.
to administer; manage; supervise: She directs the affairs of the estate.
4.
to give authoritative instructions to; command; order or ordain: I directed him to leave the room.
5.
to serve as a director in the production or performance of (a musical work, play, motion picture, etc.).
EXPAND
6.
to guide, tell, or show (a person) the way to a place: I directed him to the post office.
7.
to point, aim, or send toward a place or object: to direct radio waves around the globe.
8.
to channel or focus toward a given result, object, or end (often followed by to or toward): She directed all her energies toward the accomplishment of the work.
9.
to address (words, a speech, a written report, etc.) to a person or persons: The secretary directed his remarks to two of the committee members.
10.
to address (a letter, package, etc.) to an intended recipient.
COLLAPSE
verb (used without object)
11.
to act as a guide.
12.
to give commands or orders.
13.
to serve as the director of a play, film, orchestra, etc.

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Direct democracy is always a great word to know.
So is interrobang. Does it mean:
a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question.
a chattering or flighty, light-headed person.
adjective
14.
proceeding in a straight line or by the shortest course; straight; undeviating; not oblique: a direct route.
15.
proceeding in an unbroken line of descent; lineal rather than collateral: a direct descendant.
16.
Mathematics.
a.
(of a proportion) containing terms of which an increase (or decrease) in one results in an increase (or decrease) in another: a term is said to be in direct proportion to another term if one increases (or decreases) as the other increases (or decreases).
b.
(of a function) the function itself, in contrast to its inverse. Compare inverse (def. 2).
17.
without intervening persons, influences, factors, etc.; immediate; personal: direct contact with the voters; direct exposure to a disease.
18.
straightforward; frank; candid: the direct remarks of a forthright individual.
EXPAND
19.
absolute; exact: the direct opposite.
20.
consisting exactly of the words originally used; verbatim: direct quotation.
21.
Government. of or by action of voters, which takes effect without representatives or another intervening agency, as in direct democracy.
22.
inevitable; consequential: War will be a direct result of such political action.
23.
allocated for or arising from a particular known agency, process, job, etc.: The new machine was listed by the accountant as a direct cost.
24.
Electricity. of or pertaining to direct current.
25.
Astronomy.
a.
moving in an orbit in the same direction as the earth in its revolution around the sun.
b.
appearing to move on the celestial sphere in the direction of the natural order of the signs of the zodiac, from west to east. Compare retrograde (def. 4).
26.
Surveying. (of a telescope) in its normal position; not inverted or transited.
27.
(of dye colors) working without the use of a mordant; substantive.
COLLAPSE
adverb
28.
in a direct manner; directly; straight: Answer me direct.

Origin:
1325–75; Middle English direct (adj., adv.), directen (v.) (< Anglo-French ) < Latin dīrēctus, dērēctus (the latter probably the orig. form, later reanalyzed as dī- di-2), past participle of dērigere to align, straighten, guide (dē- de- + -rigere, combining form of regere to guide, rule)

di·rect·a·ble, adjective
di·rect·ness, noun
pre·di·rect, verb (used with object)
self-di·rect·ing, adjective
sem·i·di·rect, adjective
EXPAND
sem·i·di·rect·ness, noun
COLLAPSE


1. See guide. 4. Direct, order, command mean to issue instructions. Direct suggests also giving explanations or advice; the emphasis is not on the authority of the director, but on steps necessary for the accomplishing of a purpose. Order connotes a personal relationship in which one in a superior position imperatively instructs a subordinate to do something. Command, less personal and, often, less specific in detail, suggests greater formality and, sometimes, a more fixed authority on the part of the superior. 18. open, sincere, outspoken.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source Link To direct democracy
Dictionary.com's 21st Century Lexicon
Main Entry:  direct democracy
Part of Speech:  n
Definition:  a form of democracy in which the people as a whole make direct decisions, rather than have those decisions made for them by elected representatives
Example:  A referendum is a form of direct democracy, as is the practice of recall, by which an elected offical may be voted out of office between elections if enough people sign a petition to remove him and then win the subsequent vote.
Dictionary.com's 21st Century Lexicon
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