straightaway

1 of 3

adverb

straight·​away ˌstrāt-ə-ˈwā How to pronounce straightaway (audio)
: without hesitation or delay

straightaway

2 of 3

adjective

straight·​away ˈstrāt-ə-ˌwā How to pronounce straightaway (audio)
1
: proceeding in a straight line : continuous in direction
2

straightaway

3 of 3

noun

straight·​away ˈstrā-tə-ˌwā How to pronounce straightaway (audio)
: a straight course: such as
a
: the straight part of a closed racecourse : stretch
b
: a straight and unimpeded stretch of road or way

Examples of straightaway in a Sentence

Adverb He found the information straightaway. he got to the hospital, and straightaway he was admitted and given intravenous fluids Adjective her first novel was a straightaway success the doomed ship was headed on a straightaway course in the path of the iceberg
Recent Examples on the Web
Adverb
My ideal scenario starts with going into a used bookstore and finding something wonderful by pure serendipity, then taking it off somewhere to start reading it straightaway. New York Times, 30 Mar. 2023 The ornithologists realized straightaway that many birds in the training data set had been misclassified because of the crowdsourced workers’ limited ornithological knowledge. Dan Greene, IEEE Spectrum, 21 Nov. 2018 But that’s not what’s happening when uninformed and inexperienced e-scooter riders injure themselves straightaway. Ian Bogost, The Atlantic, 10 Oct. 2019 Obviously, people always want to see results straightaway but that’s not how things work. San Diego Union-Tribune, 25 Sep. 2019 The idea was to design algorithms that would recognize interesting phenomena encountered in the rover's surroundings during traverses and either notify the science team on Earth asking for instructions or examine those phenomena straightaway. Jacek Krywko, Ars Technica, 16 July 2018 Leaders of big corporations are confident people; they are used to making decisions quickly and implementing them straightaway. Christopher Chabris and Matthew Brown, WSJ, 25 Apr. 2018 Why not go straightaway at China, do something specific against China rather than the entire aluminum and steel industry? Fox News, 11 Mar. 2018 All new players are judged, if not straightaway, then quickly. Rory Smith, New York Times, 5 Jan. 2018
Adjective
Or that Heyward’s only at-bat had been a scorching blast to straightaway center. Jack Harris, Los Angeles Times, 26 Sep. 2023 Mountcastle hit a solo home run to straightaway center field in Monday’s one-run victory and reached base four times, going 2-for-2 with two walks, in Tuesday’s loss. Jacob Calvin Meyer, Baltimore Sun, 27 July 2023 Batting leadoff, Yelich hit a 424-foot home run straightaway center field off Rockies starter Connor Seabold, coming off his bat at 107.9 mph. Bob Nightengale, USA TODAY, 4 July 2023 The Cubs racked up four hits against the right-hander in the second with the first, a leadoff double by Dansby Swanson, a ball that Wiemer ran down in straightaway center field but failed to glove. Todd Rosiak, Journal Sentinel, 3 July 2023 In the ninth Chisholm parked his second homer in as many nights to straightaway center to put the finishing touches yet again on a victory. Julian McWilliams, BostonGlobe.com, 29 June 2023 The lone offense of the afternoon came on solo home runs to straightaway center field from Ramón Urías in the third inning and Gunnar Henderson in the ninth. Jacob Calvin Meyer, Baltimore Sun, 21 June 2023 There’s a short porch in straightaway right and left. ... Nick Alvarez | Nalvarez@al.com, al, 9 June 2023 Almost 80% of the straightaway businesses are female-owned and 90% of the businesses are Black-owned. Detroit Free Press, 2 June 2023
Noun
By that time, though, The Super Mario Bros. Movie will be well north of $900+ million and on the straightaway toward the $1+ billion waiting at the finish line. Mark Hughes, Forbes, 20 Apr. 2023 Brown edged out Torrence in the final race of the U.S Nationals, racing the quarter-mile straightaway in 3.779 seconds at a speed of 328.54 mph. Chloe Peterson, The Indianapolis Star, 5 Sep. 2023 The track is flat on the straightaways, with gentle 9.2-degree banking in its four turns. Scott Horner, The Indianapolis Star, 24 Mar. 2023 There were enough turns and straightaways on our quick jaunt to get some sense of how madcap bonkers the Sapphire is. Elana Scherr, Car and Driver, 8 Aug. 2023 At top, Third Avenue before; at center and bottom, after the redesign, as it will be reconstructed on the straightaways and at intersections with left turns. Curbed, 18 July 2023 Saturday, an off day, is the F1 race on a 3.8-mile circuit that includes a straightaway on The Strip. Mark Zeigler, San Diego Union-Tribune, 12 June 2023 On the final straightaway, Lucas Hamilton of Jayco-AlUla led Hugo Houle of Israel-Premier Tech and Neilson Powless of EF Education-EasyPost. Edward Lee, Baltimore Sun, 3 Sep. 2023 Richardson was in fifth at that point but used a strong final straightaway to win the second medal of her first global championships. Andrew Greif, Los Angeles Times, 25 Aug. 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'straightaway.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

Adverb

1662, in the meaning defined above

Adjective

1874, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun

1878, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of straightaway was in 1662

Dictionary Entries Near straightaway

Cite this Entry

“Straightaway.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/straightaway. Accessed 3 Dec. 2023.

Kids Definition

straightaway

1 of 3 adjective
straight·​away ˈstrāt-ə-ˌwā How to pronounce straightaway (audio)
1
: proceeding in a straight line : continuous in direction : straightforward
2
: immediate sense 4
made a straightaway reply

straightaway

2 of 3 noun
: the straight part of a racetrack : stretch

straightaway

3 of 3 adverb
straight·​away ˌstrāt-ə-ˈwā How to pronounce straightaway (audio)
: without delay : immediately
found an answer straightaway

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