direct action

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noun

any action seeking to achieve an immediate or direct result, especially an action against an established authority or powerful institution, as a strike or picketing.

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Origin of direct action

First recorded in 1835–45

OTHER WORDS FROM direct action

direct actionist, noun

Words nearby direct action

direc. prop., direct, direct-access, direct-access storage device, direct-acting, direct action, direct address, direct broadcast satellite, direct characterization, direct cinema, direct cost

How to use direct action in a sentence

Hamilton and Mire work with the Awood Center, which—since it is a worker center rather than a union—doesn’t go through NLRB elections but instead organizes through direct action.
Tech’s new labor movement is harnessing lessons learned a century ago|Sarah Jaffe|June 30, 2021|MIT Technology Review
It often involves direct action and is rooted in a desire for social transformation.
Mutual Aid May Be Last Year’s Most Enduring Legacy|Luz Cruz|May 27, 2021|Eater
It’s unclear whether the direct action of light could fully account for the success of Cook’s baking treatment.
The Antarctic Expedition That Changed Modern Medicine|Julian Sancton|May 12, 2021|Time
Crew Dragon mostly works autonomously, so the crew members should have to take only a few direct actions on their own.
This is how (almost) anyone can train to be an astronaut|Neel Patel|March 24, 2021|MIT Technology Review

She also said she is committed to real and direct action, to bringing real change to the Central American Parliament.
Ruby Corado backs transgender Central American Parliament candidate|Michael K. Lavers|February 11, 2021|Washington Blade
While this deferred action is controversial in the United States, in Mexico, what Obama did is universally popular.
Why Mexicans Are Enraged by Obama’s Big Tuesday Meeting|Ruben Navarrette Jr.|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
This is where much of the action will be for anti-LGBT groups.
‘Only God’ Can Stop Gay Marriage|Tim Mak|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
In 2008, Huckabee raised a little over $16 million, with less than $55,000 coming from political action committees.
Can Huckabee Convert the GOP’s Moneymen?|Lloyd Green|January 4, 2015|DAILY BEAST
In 2009, Lee Daniels announced that he would direct Selma and that Liam Neeson would play President Lyndon Johnson.
Dr. King Goes to Hollywood: The Flawed History of ‘Selma’|Gary May|January 2, 2015|DAILY BEAST
The possibility that the same outcome could happen another way -- namely a guy asks me out -- keeps me from taking action.
Random Hook-Ups or Dry Spells: Why Millennials Flunk College Dating|Ellie Schaack|January 1, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Let the thought of self pass in, and the beauty of great action is gone, like the bloom from a soiled flower.
Pearls of Thought|Maturin M. Ballou
Each religion claims that its own Bible is the direct revelation of God, and is the only true Bible teaching the only true faith.
God and my Neighbour|Robert Blatchford
He saw Gen. Braddock as he passed on to his defeat, and could give a succinct account of that sanguinary action.
The Every Day Book of History and Chronology|Joel Munsell
The wisdom of a scribe cometh by his time of leisure: and he that is less in action, shall receive wisdom.
The Bible, Douay-Rheims Version|Various
Words are often everywhere as the minute-hands of the soul, more important than even the hour-hands of action.
Pearls of Thought|Maturin M. Ballou

British Dictionary definitions for direct action

direct action

noun

action such as strikes or civil disobedience, employed by organized labour or other groups to obtain demands from an employer, government, etc

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012