Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Extending continuously in the same direction without curving.
  • adjective Having no waves or bends.
  • adjective Not bent or bowed; rigid or erect.
  • adjective Sports Of or relating to a midair position in diving or gymnastics in which the body is held rigid without bending at the hips or knees and the feet are kept together.
  • adjective Perfectly horizontal or vertical; level or even.
  • adjective Direct and candid.
  • adjective Following a direct or correct method or approach; systematic.
  • adjective Coming from a reliable source; factual.
  • adjective Showing or marked by honesty or fair-mindedness.
  • adjective Right; correct.
  • adjective Neatly arranged; orderly.
  • adjective Uninterrupted; consecutive.
  • adjective Having the parts or details in correct sequence.
  • adjective Games Constituting a straight in poker.
  • adjective Characterized by undeviating support, as of a principle or a political party.
  • adjective Not deviating from what is considered socially normal, usual, or acceptable; conventional.
  • adjective Conventional to an extreme degree.
  • adjective Heterosexual.
  • adjective Slang Not being under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
  • adjective Not deviating from the normal or strict form.
  • adjective Not altered, embellished, or modified.
  • adjective Concerned with serious or important matters.
  • adjective Of or relating to a straight man.
  • adjective Not mixed with anything else; undiluted.
  • adjective Sold without discount regardless of the amount purchased.
  • adverb In a straight line; directly.
  • adverb In an erect posture; upright.
  • adverb Sports In the straight position, as in diving.
  • adverb Without detour or delay.
  • adverb Without circumlocution; candidly.
  • adverb In a neat and orderly condition.
  • adverb In an honest, law-abiding, or virtuous manner.
  • adverb Without stopping; continuously.
  • adverb Without embellishment or modification.
  • adverb Without ice, water, or a mixer.
  • noun The straight part, as of a road.
  • noun The straight part of a racecourse between the winning post and the last turn.
  • noun A straight line.
  • noun A straight form or position.
  • noun Games A poker hand containing five cards of various suits in numerical sequence, ranked above three of a kind and below a flush.
  • noun A conventional person, especially one considered a member of established society.
  • noun A heterosexual person.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, from past participle of strecchen, to stretch; see stretch.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Middle English streght, the past participle of strechen ("to stretch"), from Old English streccan.

Support

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Examples

  • "Go?" she cried, with a defiance that was blood-curdling in one so small and hitherto so silent, "I will first go to that young gentleman who speaks my language and I will tell him all, and then, with his assistance, I will go straight -- but _straight_, do you hear?"

    The Princess Priscilla's Fortnight Elizabeth von Arnim 1903

  • "Better have lied straight out," more than one hard old man said to him, but Ted Hardy could not lie _straight out_, and so he staid out and waited around disconsolately for Daisy, whom fortune sometimes favored and sometimes deserted.

    Bessie's Fortune A Novel Mary Jane Holmes 1866

  • I would like to point out one additional usage, the term straight edge.

    No Uncertain Terms William Safire 2003

  • I would like to point out one additional usage, the term straight edge.

    No Uncertain Terms William Safire 2003

  • I would like to point out one additional usage, the term straight edge.

    No Uncertain Terms William Safire 2003

  • I would like to point out one additional usage, the term straight edge.

    No Uncertain Terms William Safire 2003

  • Haley Barbour on Monday issued his strongest language yet on … Video: Jesse Jackson rallies with Ohio Teamsters … Report Abuse Union "collective bargaining" is a term straight out of Communist philosophy.

    Yahoo! News: Business - Opinion 2011

  • The reinvigorated series continues with a villain straight from the pages of DYNAMO 5!

    Image Comics Solicitations for May 2008 | Major Spoilers - Comic Book Reviews and News 2009

  • I get very cross about things, and when you can't find a word straight away, it ferments in your brain, and then what bursts out is just so wrong.

    Seriously Funny Anna Louie Sussman 2011

  • The term straight is a reference to heterosexual preference.

    Nathaniel Frank: What to Make of #Amazonfail 2009

Comments

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  • stRaIGHT

    aTRAIghT

    sTraIGHT

    StrAiGht

    June 15, 2008