Meaning of direction in English

direction

noun

uk/daɪˈrek.ʃən/ /dɪˈrek.ʃən/ us/dɪˈrek.ʃən/ /daɪˈrek.ʃən/

direction noun (POSITION)

B1 [ C ]

the position towards which someone or something moves or faces:

in a direction "No, go that way," I said, pointing in the opposite direction.

in the direction of He was going in the direction of the bedroom.

They drove away in opposite directions.

directions A2 [ plural ]

instructions that you give to someone about how to find a particular place:

give someone directions Can you give me directions to your house?

in someone's direction (also UK towards someone's direction); (also US toward someone's direction)

the area or position that someone is in:

She keeps looking in my direction.

sense of direction

the ability to find places or to know which direction to go:

a good sense of direction

direction noun (CONTROL)

C1 [ U ]

control or instruction:

under the direction of The project was under the direction of a well-known academic.

directions C1 [ plural ]

information or orders telling you what to do:

the directions I couldn't understand the directions on the packet.

direction noun (DEVELOPMENT)

C2 [ C or U ]

the way that someone or something changes or develops:

the direction something is taking There is disagreement over the direction the project is taking.

change of direction Her latest album represents a change of direction for her.

a step in the right direction This plan isn't perfect, but it's a step in the right direction.

Idiom

lack direction

(Definition of direction from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

direction | American Dictionary

direction

noun

us/dəˈrek·ʃən, dɑɪ-/

direction noun (POSITION)

[ C ]

the position toward which someone or something moves or faces:

Cars were facing every direction after slamming into each other on the icy road.

I glanced in her direction (= toward her).

You’re headed in the direction of (= toward) Toronto.

[ pl ]

Directions are instructions about how to find the place you are looking for:

We’re lost – let’s stop and ask (for) directions .

direction noun (CONTROL)

[ U ]

the condition of being in charge or in control:

Under her direction, the agency doubled in size.

(Definition of direction from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of direction

direction

Finally, the authors conclude with a summary and a few points about the future directions for this compelling domain.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Each state of the domain is defined by some satellites, some directions, some instruments and a number of modes.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

In the satellite domain, satellites need to take images in different directions, in certain modes, using appropriate instruments.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The directions of differences, whether significant or not, are shown for the +inversion groups in (17) and (18).

From the Cambridge English Corpus

I will argue for the conclusion that we find influence in both directions.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Theoretical literature on the maturing individual tends to take one of two directions.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Then, to thunderous drumming of the big drum and clashing of the large cymbals, they dance past each other and exit in separate directions.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Evolution, human engineering, science, and culture all systematically reuse constructs in new contexts that drive their elaboration in new directions.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

A relative base value of 100 has been used to allow the fluctuation of each criterion in both directions.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The female moves the ovipositor in and out in various directions through thefleshof the apple with the greatest ease.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Circumstantial evidence, which he employs in his chronological chapters, but not in this context, points in other directions.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

A few of the chapters seem to strike out in such individual directions that their inclusion would be debatable.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

I will ®nish by making a few remarks regarding directions for further study.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

If there is a breakdown in feature checking but no loss of gender on nouns, one would anticipate problems in both directions.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

At test, participants translated words in both translation directions.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

See all examples of direction

These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.

Collocations with direction

direction

These are words often used in combination with direction.

Click on a collocation to see more examples of it.

axial direction

The streams of the coronal plasma are found to be nonuniform in the axial direction.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

causal direction

Untangling the causal direction allows us to investigate whether political conversation makes good citizens, or whether it is good citizens who engage in political conversation.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

changed direction

The changed direction of patterns observed in 1982 on the snow surface on top of the peninsula, would tend to support this idea.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

See all collocations with direction

What is the pronunciation of direction?