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

The activists were led by Trans Kids Deserve Better, a network of trans youth who carry out direct actions in support of trans rights, including access to gender-affirming healthcare. —Mathew Rodriguez, Them, 3 Dec. 2024

Over her career as an actor and writer, Matten has raised her voice on behalf of Indigenous peoples, taken direct action on their behalf and consistently taken roles that portray them positively. —David S. Cohen, Variety, 27 Nov. 2024

This summer at an Amazon air freight hub in San Bernardino, warehouse workers took direct action against management when Amazon refused to address unsafe conditions due to surrounding wildfires and a heatwave. —Tom Rogers, Newsweek, 26 Nov. 2024

In the 1960s, Catholic activists launched a civil rights campaign drawing in part on the philosophy and peaceful direct action of the Civil Rights Movement for Black liberation in the United States. —Sophie Brookover, Vulture, 16 Nov. 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