'Direct discourse' definitions:

Definition of 'direct discourse'

From: WordNet
noun
A report of the exact words used in a discourse (e.g., "he said `I am a fool'") [syn: direct discourse, direct quotation] [ant: indirect discourse]

Definition of 'Direct discourse'

From: GCIDE
  • Direct \Di*rect"\, a. [L. directus, p. p. of dirigere to direct: cf. F. direct. See Dress, and cf. Dirge.]
  • 1. Straight; not crooked, oblique, or circuitous; leading by the short or shortest way to a point or end; as, a direct line; direct means. [1913 Webster]
  • What is direct to, what slides by, the question. --Locke. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. Straightforward; not of crooked ways, or swerving from truth and openness; sincere; outspoken. [1913 Webster]
  • Be even and direct with me. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
  • 3. Immediate; express; plain; unambiguous. [1913 Webster]
  • He nowhere, that I know, says it in direct words. --Locke. [1913 Webster]
  • A direct and avowed interference with elections. --Hallam. [1913 Webster]
  • 4. In the line of descent; not collateral; as, a descendant in the direct line. [1913 Webster]
  • 5. (Astron.) 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. [1913 Webster]
  • 6. (Political Science) Pertaining to, or effected immediately by, action of the people through their votes instead of through one or more representatives or delegates; as, direct nomination, direct legislation. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
  • Direct action. (a) (Mach.) See Direct-acting. (b) (Trade unions) See Syndicalism, below. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
  • Direct discourse (Gram.), the language of any one quoted without change in its form; as, he said "I can not come;" -- correlative to indirect discourse, in which there is change of form; as, he said that he could not come. They are often called respectively by their Latin names, oratio directa, and oratio obliqua.
  • Direct evidence (Law), evidence which is positive or not inferential; -- opposed to circumstantial evidence, or indirect evidence. -- This distinction, however, is merely formal, since there is no direct evidence that is not circumstantial, or dependent on circumstances for its credibility. --Wharton.
  • Direct examination (Law), the first examination of a witness in the orderly course, upon the merits. --Abbott.
  • Direct fire (Mil.), fire, the direction of which is perpendicular to the line of troops or to the parapet aimed at.
  • Direct process (Metal.), one which yields metal in working condition by a single process from the ore. --Knight.
  • Direct tax, a tax assessed directly on lands, etc., and polls, distinguished from taxes on merchandise, or customs, and from excise. [1913 Webster]