direct action

noun

: action that seeks to achieve an end directly and by the most immediately effective means (such as a boycott or strike)

Examples of direct action in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

In this worldview, art about the climate crisis is at best irrelevant, and, at worst, counterproductive to the direct action necessary to stop it. —Sonja Sharp, Los Angeles Times, 10 Sep. 2024

But aside from this scene that clearly drew upon Upham’s meeting with Jackson, this encounter took Stowe from the broader debate of antislavery politics to the immediacy of direct action. —Susanna Ashton, Smithsonian Magazine, 5 Aug. 2024

Their tactics included direct action, protests, and community education. —Banseka Kayembe, refinery29.com, 9 Aug. 2024

In recent years, the animal movement has diversified its work beyond vegan advocacy to tactics from welfare reforms on animal confinements to taking direct action to investing in the next generation of meat alternatives. —Crystal Heath, Vox, 9 Aug. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1912, in the meaning defined above

Legal Definition

direct action

noun

1

: an action in which the plaintiff sues a person's insurer without first obtaining a judgment against the insured or joining the insured

2

: a suit by a shareholder for an injury to himself or herself independent from any injury to the corporation

called also individual action

compare derivative action