<B>straight, </B>adjective, adverb, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1a. </B>without a bend or curve. <BR> <I>Ex. a straight edge, a straight line, a straight path.</I> (SYN) undeviating, unswerving. <DD><B> b. </B>evenly formed or set; not crooked. <BR> <I>Ex. a straight back, a straight nose. Keep your shoulders straight.</I> <DD><B> c. </B>not curly or wavy. <BR> <I>Ex. straight hair.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>going in a line; direct. <BR> <I>Ex. a straight course, straight aim, a straight throw.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>(Figurative.) <DD><B> a. </B>frank; honest; upright. <BR> <I>Ex. a straight answer, straight talking, a man straight in all his dealings.</I> (SYN) honorable. <DD><B> b. </B>right; correct. <BR> <I>Ex. straight thinking, a straight clear thinker.</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>in proper order or condition. <BR> <I>Ex. Our accounts are straight. Set the room straight.</I> <DD><B> 5a. </B>without interruption or break; continuous. <BR> <I>Ex. in straight succession.</I> <DD><B> b. </B>in an unbroken series. <BR> <I>Ex. straight sets, to lose 15 straight games.</I> <DD><B> 6. </B>(U.S.) <DD><B> a. </B>supporting the candidates of one party only. <BR> <I>Ex. to vote the straight Democratic ticket.</I> <DD><B> b. </B>without reservations or exceptions; thorough-going or unreserved. <BR> <I>Ex. a straight Republican.</I> <DD><B> 7. </B>(U.S.) <DD><B> a. </B>unmixed; undiluted. <BR> <I>Ex. straight gin.</I> <DD><B> b. </B>without qualification; unmodified. <BR> <I>Ex. a straight comedy, straight poker or whist.</I> <DD><B> 8. </B>showing no emotion or humor. <BR> <I>Ex. He kept a straight expression, though he wanted to laugh.</I> <DD><B> 9. </B>serious rather than comic; natural rather than eccentric. <BR> <I>Ex. a straight part in a play, a straight performance.</I> <DD><B> 10. </B>(Informal, Figurative.) reliable; sure; authoritative. <BR> <I>Ex. a straight tip, straight information.</I> <DD><B> 11. </B>(Slang.) <DD><B> a. </B>behaving in a conventional manner; holding orthodox views; square. <BR> <I>Ex. Elvin had once been into drugs, but now he was straight (Atlantic).</I> <DD><B> b. </B>not homosexual; heterosexual. <BR> <I>Ex. There are ... groups to advise "straight" family members who are trying to understand a homophile relative (Time).</I> <DD><B> c. </B>conventional; standard; normal. <BR> <I>Ex. Now rock has its own problems, which may well prove to be more basic than those of straight music (Listener).</I> <DD><B> 12. </B>made up of a sequence of five cards. <BR> <I>Ex. a straight flush in poker.</I> <DD><B> 13. </B>(of an internal-combustion engine) having its cylinders in one straight line rather than radially or in a V-shaped pattern. <BR> <I>Ex. a straight eight.</I> <DD><I>adv. </I> <B>1a. </B>in a line; directly. <BR> <I>Ex. to go straight home, to walk straight ahead, to look someone straight in the eye, to shoot straight at a target.</I> <DD><B> b. </B>not crookedly. <BR> <I>Ex. to write or walk straight, to hang a picture straight.</I> <DD><B> c. </B>in an erect position; upright. <BR> <I>Ex. Stand up straight. Sit straight.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) honorably; uprightly; honestly. <BR> <I>Ex. Live straight.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>continuously to the end; all the way. <BR> <I>Ex. a hole straight through a wall, to drive straight on.</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>without delay; immediately; straightway. <BR> <I>Ex. The bridge must straight go down (Macaulay).</I> <DD><B> 5. </B>(Figurative.) without qualification or reservation; frankly; outspokenly. <BR> <I>Ex. straight from the shoulder. Tell me straight out what you think.</I> <DD><B> 6. </B>(Informal.) selling at a fixed price regardless of quantity. <BR> <I>Ex. cigars selling at 25 cents straight.</I> <DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>straight condition; straight form, position, or line. <BR> <I>Ex. to be out of the straight.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a straight part, as of a race track. <DD><B> 3. </B>(Slang.) <DD><B> a. </B>a person who is straight; conventional person, especially one who holds orthodox views; a square. <BR> <I>Ex. The Silent Majority ... that includes blue and white collars, small businessmen, professionals, and assorted "straights" (Time).</I> <DD><B> b. </B>a heterosexual person. <BR> <I>Ex. Nowadays extreme style, as paraded by gays and straights, is par for the course (Maclean's).</I> <DD><B> 4a. </B>a sequence of five cards in poker, ranking above three of a kind and below a flush. <DD><B> b. </B>a hand containing such a sequence. <BR> <I>Ex. to deal a player a straight.</I> <DD><B> 5. </B>(Sports.) a series of shots or plays producing a perfect score. <DD><B> 6. </B><B>=straight whiskey.</B> <BR><I>expr. <B>straight away</B> (or <B>off</B>), </I>at once. <BR> <I>Ex. Your ma went straight off to see what was needed (Louisa May Alcott).</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>the straight,</B> </I>the home stretch of a race track. <BR> <I>Ex. There was no important change in the order of running until after the turn into the straight (London Times).</I> adv. <B>straightly.</B> noun <B>straightness.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="straighta">
<B>straight-A, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S.) having or showing the highest grade in all courses at school. <BR> <I>Ex. The chance for scholarships is much better for straight-A students (New York Times).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="straightandnarrow">
<B>straight and narrow,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> conventional standards or requirements of proper behavior. <BR> <I>Ex. These flirtations almost prove disastrous but Tung and Chen finally return to the straight and narrow (Sunday Times).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="straightangle">
<B>straight angle,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> an angle of 180 degrees. </DL>
<A NAME="straightarm">
<B>straight-arm, </B>verb, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to prevent (an opponent) from making a tackle in football by holding one's free arm stiffly extended. <DD><B> 2. </B>to keep (a person) away by holding one's arm straight out; fend off. <BR> <I>Ex. (Figurative.) "We're not goingto be straight-arming the customers any more," he declared. "We're going to inform everyone what their entitlements are" (New York Times).</I> <DD><I>noun </I> the act of straight-arming. </DL>
<A NAME="straightarrow">
<B>straight arrow,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S. Informal.) a very proper, upright, straightforward person. <BR> <I>Ex. Smith, a wonderfully old-fashioned straight arrow, was right in character when ... he said, "I don't call that gamesmanship. I call that rudeness" (New Yorker).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="straightarrow">
<B>straight-arrow, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S. Informal.) very proper, upright, or straightforward. <BR> <I>Ex. The new eco-activists include groups as straight-arrow as the Girl Scouts (Time).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="straightaway">
<B>straightaway, </B>noun, adjective, adverb.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> a straight course. <DD><I>adj. </I> in a straight course. <DD><I>adv. </I> as quickly as possible; at once; immediately; straightway. </DL>
<A NAME="straightchain">
<B>straight chain,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Chemistry.) an arrangement of atoms in an organic molecule represented in a structural formula by a straight line with no forks or branches. </DL>
<A NAME="straightedge">
<B>straightedge, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a strip of plastic, wood, or metal having one edge accurately straight, used in obtaining or testing straight lines and level surfaces. <DD><B> 2. </B><B>=straight razor.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="straighten">
<B>straighten, </B>transitive verb.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>to make straight. <BR> <I>Ex. Straighten your shoulders. He straightened the bent pin.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to put in the proper order or condition. <BR> <I>Ex. to straighten out an account. Please straighten up your room.</I> <DD><I>v.i. </I> <B>1. </B>to become straight. <BR> <I>Ex. Suddenly resolved, he straightened and marched out of the room.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(U.S. Informal.) to mend one's ways; reform. noun <B>straightener.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="straightface">
<B>straight face,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a face or expression that shows no emotion, humor, or thought. <BR> <I>Ex. He kept a straight face while telling the joke.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="straightfaced">
<B>straight-faced, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> showing no emotion, humor, or thought; with a straight face. <BR> <I>Ex. a straight-faced comedian, a straight-faced joke. He is not a debunker; he achieves his effects not by wisecracks but by straight-faced deadly irony (Atlantic).</I> adv. <B>straight-facedly.</B> noun <B>straightfacedness.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="straightflush">
<B>straight flush,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (in poker) a sequence of five cards in the same suit, ranking higher than four of a kind. </DL>
<A NAME="straightforward">
<B>straightforward, </B>adjective, adverb.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>honest; frank. <BR> <I>Ex. a straightforward answer. He has a reputation for being straightforward. He has written for the most part a straightforward and unvarnished drama (Wall Street Journal).</I> (SYN) forthright, downright, aboveboard. <DD><B> 2. </B>going straight ahead; direct. <DD><I>adv. </I> directly. adv. <B>straightforwardly.</B> noun <B>straightforwardness.</B> </DL>
<B>straight-grained, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> (of timber) having the grain running straight, or parallel to the length, instead of at cross directions. </DL>
<B>straight life insurance,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a plan of life insurance in which premiums are paid as long as the insured lives. </DL>
<A NAME="straightline">
<B>straight-line, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>having the main parts placed in a straight line, as a machine. <DD><B> 2. </B>acting or exerted in a straight line. <BR> <I>Ex. straight-line movement, a straight-line force.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>producing or transferring motion in a straight line, as a system of rods so linked as to change rotating or oscillating movement into movement that acts in a straight line. </DL>
<A NAME="straightlinedepreciation">
<B>straight-line depreciation,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a method of depreciation in which the original cost of machinery, equipment, or other investment, less the estimated resale value, is divided evenly over the number of years of expected use, and the percentage thus fixed is periodically charged off. </DL>
<A NAME="straightman">
<B>straight man,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a person who serves as a foil for a comedian. <BR> <I>Ex. A BBC comedian asked his straight man to read the day's news (Time).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="straightout">
<B>straight-out, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S. Informal.) out-and-out; complete; thorough. <BR> <I>Ex. It was a case of straight-out dishonesty.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="straightrazor">
<B>straight razor,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a heavy blade fixed to a handle, used chiefly by barbers for shaving. </DL>
<A NAME="straightrungasoline">
<B>straight-run gasoline,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> gasoline of low octane rating distilled and condensed from crude petroleum. </DL>
<A NAME="straightshooter">
<B>straight shooter,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Informal.) a person who is honest and free from deceit or fraud. </DL>
<A NAME="straighttime">
<B>straight-time, </B>adjective, adverb.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> for or based on regular working hours. <BR> <I>Ex. The straight-time base pay in logging camps and sawmills is now $1.80 an hour (Wall Street Journal).</I> <DD><I>adv. </I> at regular hours. <BR> <I>Ex. On this job everyone works straight-time.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="straightway">
<B>straightway, </B>adverb.<DL COMPACT><DD> at once; immediately; straightaway. <BR> <I>Ex. He read the letter and burned it straightway.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="straightwhiskey">
<B>straight whiskey,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> whiskey distilled and aged without blending either with neutral spirits or with other whiskeys. <BR> <I>Ex. He predicted that straight whiskies would gain in favor at the expense of blends (New York Times).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="straightwing">
<B>straight-wing, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> having the wing's leading edge and the fuselage form a right angle. <BR> <I>Ex. an airplane with a straight-wing design.</I> </DL>
