straight

adj

1. Not crooked, curly, or bent; having a constant direction throughout its length.

   “I do not like crooked, twisted, blasted trees. I admire them much more if they are tall, straight and flourishing.”

   ““Heavens!” exclaimed Nina, “the blue-stocking and the fogy!—and yours are pale blue, Eileen!—you’re about as self-conscious as Drina—slumping there with your hair tumbling à la Mérode! Oh, it's very picturesque, of course, but a straight spine and good grooming is better.[…]””

   “The other people, I presume, are supposed to be standing to attention, but they're all smiling at me. The lines are not even straight.”

2. (usually)Direct, undeviating.

   “Now, as the world knows, the straightest way to the heart of the honest voter is through the women of the land, and the straightest way to the heart of the women is through the children of the land; and one method of winning both, with rural politicians, is to kiss the babies wide and far.”

   “He had no time to set himself, but his throw was straight and true. Pick slid in, spikes high, and Schang tagged him in the ribs a foot or two from the plate.”

   “Even without hovering drones, a lurking assassin, a thumping score and a denouement, the real-life story of Edward Snowden, a rogue spy on the run, could be straight out of the cinema. But, as with Hollywood, the subplots and exotic locations may distract from the real message: America’s discomfort and its foes’ glee.”

3. Perfectly horizontal or vertical; not diagonal or oblique.

   “Mr. Coniff: He did not have his hat on straight; that is the one thing, is it?”

   “There's nothing more annoying than taking a great picture, only to find that the horizon isn't straight.”

4. Describing the bat as held so as not to incline to either side; on, or near a line running between the two wickets.

   “Steyn continues and it's all a bit more orderly down his end as O'Brien defends the first three balls with a straight bat and a respectful dip of the head.”

5. Having all cylinders in a single straight line; in-line.
6. Direct in communication; unevasive, straightforward.

   “Tony Blair issued a direct challenge to the IRA yesterday when he demanded they give straight answers to three simple questions[…].”

   “What's more, he actually tries to answer a straight question with a straight answer.”

7. Free from dishonesty; honest, law-abiding.

   “‘It wasn't the proper thing, squoire. It wasn't straight.’”

   “How easy is it to go straight after a life spent in and out of prison?”

8. Serious rather than comedic.

   “Allan Blye, a CBC-TV mainstay in the early Sixties, worked as a singer, writer and straight and comedic actor.”

   “All of Peter Schickele's music, both straight and comedic are integrated side by side in this chapter.”

   “More success followed, both straight and comedic, with hits such as Dead Poets' Society (1989), in which Williams scored another Oscar nomination for skilfully handling a classic "rogue teacher" role that hovers just this side of sentimentality,[…]”

9. In proper order; as it should be.

   “Oh, music, how he loved it; it seemed to set everything straight all at once in his head.”

   “"If you wonder why folks can't take the news seriously, here's Exhibit A," said one blogger. "Lord Jesus, how can the reporter file this story with a straight face?"”

10. In a row, in unbroken sequence; consecutive.

    “After four straight wins, Mudchester United are top of the league.”

    “It moves them from 17th to 12th on seven points, while Bolton are now bottom of the table with five straight defeats.”

    “As of October 29th, three-month dollar Libor (the rate at which banks borrow from each other) had fallen for 13 straight days and was nearly one-and-a-half percentage points below its October 10th level.”

11. Describing the sets in a match of which the winner did not lose a single set.

    “Murray started well against Marcos Baghdatis before slumping to defeat in straight sets and the British No1 admitted he may not have been mentally prepared for the rigours of the ATP Tour after a gruelling start to 2011.”

12. (US)Making no exceptions or deviations in one's support of the organization and candidates of a political party.

    “a straight Republican”

    “a straight Democrat”

13. (US)Containing the names of all the regularly nominated candidates of a single party and no others.

    “a straight ballot”

14. (colloquial)Conventional; mainstream; socially acceptable.

    “Although Eyles, the minor celebrity, is respected by his co-workers, he looks out of place among the dozens of short-haired, short-sleeved technocrats who man the Lab. “No doubt about it,” he says, “there are an awful lot of people around here you’d have to call straight.””

    “I've learned that there are two types of gays—straight gays and kinky gays.”

    “You say you've got to go home / Well at least there's someone there that you can talk to / And you never have to face up to the night on your own / Jesus, it must be great to be straight”

    “‘Her last album was a bit too straight,’ he says, ‘but this one puts her in a more contemporary framework and softens her music.’”

    “"When you say he's a straight guy, you mean[…]?" I held up my left hand as if it were a shield and spun my ring around. I told her: "He works on Wall Street.[…]He wouldn't understand my business. He's always had a straight job. His entire life he's been so – so normal that he doesn't even know how normal he is.[…]He doesn't know I'm a hooker. I'm pretending to be a straight chick. And it's working! And that makes him a straight guy. It's ... I feel like Dr. Frankenhooker."”

15. (colloquial)Heterosexual.

    “Reuben, David R. (1969), chapter 8, in Everything you always wanted to know about sex but were too afraid to ask, New York: David McKay Company, Inc., published 1970, →LCCN, Homosexuals have their own language?, page 146: “STRAIGHT: a heterosexual””

    “Ain't nobody straight in L.A. / It seems that everybody is gay”

    “We only appear straight for the first five seconds. Just walking down the street, in the diner, or at the boardwalk, we hear, "Is she a man? Is she a woman? If she is a straight woman, what is she doing with this gay man?" We check in with each other. "What do you think, is it okay? I think we should go. I think we should cross over to the other side. Danger."”

    “["][…]He's a straight guy who does drag." At that, the man laughed. "Oh, you're putting me on!" He decided I must have been pulling his leg the whole time. He glanced back at my husband again. "So what's his number?" "The same as mine."”

    “Some of my friends – gay and straight – seem unable to understand the close but platonic nature of my and Gian's relationship, but have been supportive.”

16. (colloquial)Occurring between people of opposite sex (sometimes, but not always, specifically between heterosexual people).

    “straight marriage, sex, relationships”

    “However, a "man/woman relationship" with a bisexual person in it, is not a "straight" relationship[…]”

    “What was possible family-wise was fairly limited, though many gays, lesbians, and bisexuals had children in straight relationships and then came out.”

17. (slang)Related to conventional sexual intercourse.

    ““That coffee-an’ mac you got,” a French girl would crack to a straight one, and then it was on—hair came out by the handful, some bleached and some unbleached.”

18. (colloquial)Not using alcohol, drugs, etc.

    “For all the boredom the straight life brings, it's not too bad.”

    “‘Alex's dad used a lot of drugs. He's been straight for years now, but it took a long time for him to be able to deal with his feelings.’”

19. Not plus size; thin.

    “The shirts only come in straight sizes, not in plus sizes.”

    “shopping at a straight-sized store”

20. (rare)Strait; narrow.

    “Egypt is a long country, but it is straight, that is to say, narrow.”

    “that the old streets are unfit for the present frequency of Coaches; and that the passage of Ludgate is a throat too straight for the body.”

    “"Enter ye into the straight gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth unto destruction, and many go in thereat; because straight is the gate and narrow is the way that leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it."”

    “Family or Gentile expansion: “Behold now the place where we dwell with thee is too straight for us.””

    “One is a wide gate and broad way seeker, while the other is the straight gate and narrow way seeker.”

21. (obsolete)Stretched out; fully extended.
22. (slang)Thorough; utter; unqualified.

    “A real pimp is a gentleman, but these are pimps in gorilla suits. They hang around pimps, they have hoes on the track working for them, they may even look like pimps, but they are straight simps.”

23. Of spirits: undiluted, unmixed; neat.

    “Real cowboys know how to rope, ride a horse and drink whisky straight.”

    “The Martini is still in belief, if not in fact, the centerpiece of a rite, and people who would not drink straight gin on the rocks will drink straight gin on the rocks if it is called a Martini.”

24. (historical)Sent at a full rate for immediate delivery; being a fast telegram.

    ““Was it a straight message?” Miss Jenny asked. The other said yes and she added: “Horace must have got rich, like the soldiers say all the Y.M.C.A. did. Well, if it has taught a man like Horace to make money, the war was a pretty good thing, after all.””

25. Concerning the property allowing the parallel transport of vectors along a course that keeps tangent vectors remain as such throughout that course (a course which is straight, a straight curve, is a geodesic).
26. (informal)OK, all right, fine; in a good state or situation.

    “"Is something on your mind?" "Nah, I'm straight".”

    “Just making sure you're straight”

27. (informal, reciprocal)On good terms.

    “We had a bit of a disagreement, but we're straight now.”

adv

1. Of a direction relative to the subject, precisely; as if following a direct line.

   “The door will be straight ahead of you.”

   “Go straight back.”

2. Directly; without pause, delay or detour.

   “On arriving at work, he went straight to his office.”

   “Tartarian theeues, That lie in ambuſh, waiting for a pray: What ſhould we doe but bid them battel ſtraight, And rid the world of thoſe deteſted troopes?”

   “I know thy generous temper well; / Fling but the appearance of dishonour on it, / It straight takes fire, and mounts into a blaze.”

   “"I've had just abart enough of you and your blinkin' game, Toady Joolby. Here, I'd sooner smash the bloody thing, straight, than be such a ruddy mug as to swallow any of your blahsted promises […]"”

3. Continuously; without interruption or pause.

   “He claims he can hold his breath for three minutes straight.”

4. Of speech or information, without prevarication or holding back; directly; straightforwardly; plainly.

   “"By ginger, Mudgy, you do go off the handle over nothing. I tell you straight, I was damned annoyed with you this afternoon, going pop like that at a man over nothing."”

noun

1. Something that is not crooked or bent such as a part of a road or track.

   “After four grueling laps, the race had come down to a sprint. Into the straight, although my legs were burning, I called on them for more, and they responded. On my inside the maroon singlet came with me, until it was just the two of us heading for the line.”

   “Seppi started the engine, then shifted first gear and sped away into second, then third and fourth gear. Frank heard the roar of the Porsche's engine further down the straight and the back short straight. He held a stopwatch in his hand, waiting for him to come up into the straight from the hairpin curve.”

2. Five cards in sequence.
3. (colloquial)A heterosexual.

   “My friends call straights "heteros".”

4. (slang)A normal person; someone in mainstream society.

   “You live with straights who tell you you was king / Jump when your momma tell you anything”

   “Boys! Boys! You're scaring the straights, okay? Is there any way that we could do this tomorrow?”

5. (slang)A cigarette, particularly one containing tobacco instead of marijuana.

   “A straight = a straighter = a straight cut, une cigarette en tabac de Virginie.]”

6. A chiropractor who relies solely on spinal adjustment, with no other treatments.
7. A cat that has straight ears despite belonging to a breed that often has folded ears.

   “2021, B. J. Deming, 25 More Facts About House Cats A hopeful sign of compromise is the growing popularity of Scottish Fold "straights" (cats like Maru, without droopy ears).”

verb

1. (transitive)To straighten.

   “One man draws out the wire , another straights it , a third cuts it , a fourth points it , a fifth grinds it at the top for receiving the head”