Word.ws English Dictionary

directing

directing is the present participle and gerund of direct.

Meaning of direct

Verb

direct (third-person singular simple present directs, present participle directing, simple past and past participle directed)

  1. To manage, control, steer.
    • to direct the affairs of a nation or the movements of an army
  2. To aim (something) at (something else).
    • They directed their fire towards the men on the wall.
  3. To point out to or show (somebody) the right course or way; to guide, as by pointing out the way; to refer.
    • He directed me to the left-hand road.
    Synonyms:
    point
  4. To point out to with authority; to instruct as a superior; to order.
    • She directed them to leave immediately.
  5. (dated) To address (a letter) to a particular person or place.
    • [A]s I do not know where I shall be, and shall have my letters sent after me as soon as I do know, continue to direct hither.1792, Charlotte Smith, Desmond, Broadview, published 2001, page 310

See all 15 meanings of direct

Words formed from directing

Questions about directing

What is directing the present participle and gerund of?
Directing is the present participle and gerund of direct.

Words near directing in the dictionary

  1. directer
  2. directers
  3. directest
  4. directeth
  5. directeur sportif
  6. directing
  7. directingly
  8. direction
  9. direction indicator
  10. direction indicators
  11. direction sign

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: directing (page history and authors); direct (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-directing.ogg.

Cite this entry: “directing.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/directing. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.