notion consisting of a narrow strip of fine material used for trimming
a long strip of inked material for making characters on paper with a typewriter
any long object resembling a thin line; "a mere ribbon of land"; "the lighted ribbon of traffic"; "from the air the road was a grey thread"; "a thread of smoke climbed upward"
without deviation; "the path leads directly to the lake"; "went direct to the office"
in a forthright manner; candidly or frankly; "he didn't answer directly"; "told me straight out"; "came out flat for less work and more pay"
without anyone or anything intervening; "these two factors are directly related"; "he was directly responsible"; "measured the physical properties directly"
furnish with a preface or introduction; "She always precedes her lectures with a joke"; "He prefaced his lecture with a critical remark about the institution"
move ahead (of others) in time or space
be the predecessor of; "Bill preceded John in the long line of Susan's husbands"
come before; "Most English adjectives precede the noun they modify"