(~er, ~est, ~s)
Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English.
1.
A ~ line or edge continues in the same direction and does not bend or curve.
Keep the boat in a ~ line...
Using the ~ edge as a guide, trim the cloth to size...
There wasn’t a single ~ wall in the building.
ADJ
•
Straight is also an adverb.
Stand ~ and stretch the left hand to the right foot...
ADV: ADV after v
2.
Straight hair has no curls or waves in it.
Grace had long ~ dark hair which she wore in a bun.
ADJ: usu ADJ n
3.
You use ~ to indicate that the way from one place to another is very direct, with no changes of direction.
The ball fell ~ to the feet of Klinsmann...
He finished his conversation and stood up, looking ~ at me...
Straight ahead were the low cabins of the motel.
ADV: ADV prep/adv
4.
If you go ~ to a place, you go there immediately.
As always, we went ~ to the experts for advice...
ADV: ADV prep/adv
5.
If you give someone a ~ answer, you answer them clearly and honestly.
What a shifty arguer he is, refusing ever to give a ~ answer.
ADJ: ADJ n
•
Straight is also an adverb.
I lost my temper and told him ~ that I hadn’t been looking for any job.
ADV: ADV after v
6.
Straight means following one after the other, with no gaps or intervals.
They’d won 12 ~ games before they lost.
ADJ: ADJ n
•
Straight is also an adverb.
He called from Weddington, having been there for 31 hours ~.
ADV: n ADV
7.
A ~ choice or a ~ fight involves only two people or things.
It’s a ~ choice between low-paid jobs and no jobs...
ADJ: ADJ n
8.
If you describe someone as ~, 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 ~ woman, a very strict Christian who was married to her job.
ADJ
9.
If you describe someone as ~, you mean that they are heterosexual rather than homosexual. (INFORMAL)
His sexual orientation was a lot more gay than ~...
? gay
ADJ: usu v-link ADJ
•
Straight is also a noun.
...a standard of sexual conduct that applies equally to gays and ~s.
N-COUNT
10.
A ~ drink, especially an alcoholic drink, has not had another liquid such as water added to it.
...a large ~ whiskey without ice...
= neat
ADJ: ADJ n, v n ADJ
11.
On a racetrack, a ~ is a section of the track that is ~, rather than curved.
I went to overtake him on the back ~ on the last lap.
N-COUNT
see also home ~
12.
If you get something ~, you make sure that you understand it properly or that someone else does. (SPOKEN)
Let’s get things ~. I didn’t lunch with her.
PHRASE: V inflects
13.
If a criminal is going ~, they are no longer involved in crime.
PHRASE: V inflects
14.
If something keeps people on the ~ and narrow, it helps to keep them living an honest or healthy life.
All her efforts to keep him on the ~ and narrow have been rewarded.
PHRASE: PHR after v
15.
a ~ face: see face
to set the record ~: see record