straight

[[t]stre͟ɪt[/t]]

♦♦

straighter, straightest, straights

1) ADJ-GRADED A straight line or edge continues in the same direction and does not bend or curve.

Keep the boat in a straight line...

Using the straight edge as a guide, trim the cloth to size...

His teeth were perfectly straight...

There wasn't a single straight wall in the building.

ADV: ADV after v

Straight is also an adverb.

Stand straight and stretch the left hand to the right foot... Turn right and just basically walk straight, right over the river.

2) ADJ-GRADED: usu ADJ n Straight hair has no curls or waves in it.

Grace had long straight dark hair which she wore in a bun.

Ant:

curly, wavy

3) ADV: ADV prep/adv You use straight to indicate that the way from one place to another is very direct, with no changes of direction.

...squirting the medicine straight to the back of the child's throat...

He finished his conversation and stood up, looking straight at me...

Straight ahead were the low cabins of the motel.

4) ADV: ADV prep/adv If you go straight to a place, you go there immediately.

As always, we went straight to the experts for advice...

We'll go to a meeting in Birmingham and come straight back.

Syn:

directly

5) ADJ-GRADED: ADJ n If you give someone a straight answer, you answer them clearly and honestly.

What a shifty arguer he is, refusing ever to give a straight answer to a straight question.

ADV-GRADED: ADV after v

Straight is also an adverb.

I lost my temper and told him straight that I hadn't been looking for any job.

6) ADJ: ADJ n Straight means following one after the other, with no gaps or intervals.

They'd won 12 straight games before they lost.

ADV: n ADV

Straight is also an adverb.

He called from Weddington, having been there for 31 hours straight.

7) ADJ: ADJ n A straight choice or a straight fight involves only two people or things.

It's a straight choice between low-paid jobs and no jobs...

Each has several times beaten the other in a straight fight.

Syn:

clear

8) ADJ-GRADED If you describe someone as straight, you mean that they are normal and conventional, for example in their opinions and in the way they live.

Dorothy was described as a very straight woman, a very strict Christian who was married to her job.

Syn:

conventional

9) ADJ: usu v-link ADJ If you describe someone as straight, you mean that they are heterosexual rather than homosexual. [INFORMAL]

His sexual orientation was a lot more gay than straight...

Marty of New York describes herself as a straight female.

Ant:

gay

N-COUNT

Straight is also a noun.

...a standard of sexual conduct that applies equally to gays and straights.

10) ADJ: ADJ n, v n ADJ A straight drink, especially an alcoholic drink, has not had another liquid such as water added to it.

...a large straight whiskey without ice...

Children should not drink fruit juices straight.

Syn:

neat

11) N-COUNT On a racetrack, a straight is a section of the track that is straight, rather than curved.

→ See also home straight

Our cars were clearly too slow along the straights...

I went to overtake him on the back straight on the last lap.

12) PHRASE: V inflects If you get something straight, you make sure that you understand it properly or that someone else does. [SPOKEN]

You need to get your facts straight...

Let's get things straight. I didn't lunch with her.

13) PHRASE: V inflects If a criminal is going straight, they are no longer involved in crime.

14) PHRASE: PHR after v If something keeps people on the straight and narrow, it helps to keep them living an honest or healthy life.

All her efforts to keep him on the straight and narrow have been rewarded.

15) a straight face → see face

set the record straight → see record