Like this site? Pledge support via Patreon!
Photo of a child pointing.

List of directions

Left, right, up, down, inside-out and around and around!

Photo of a clock
Attribution-Sharealike
Anticlockwise, or counterclockwise is a circular direction around a central point, in the opposite direction to the way the hands on a clock turn. Anticlockwise goes towards the left.
Photo of a dog wearing a scarf
Attribution-Sharealike

Ais forAround

Around is in a circular way. The dog in the picture has a scarf around his neck.

Ais forAway

Something is away from you if it is a distance from you, or is being removed from you. The man in the picture is walking away. Parents often take toys away from children as a punishment.
Photo of a bent railway line.
Attribution-Sharealike

Bis forBend

You bend something when you change it from being straight into a curve. Someone has bent the metal bar in the picture.
Photo of a clock
Attribution-Sharealike
Clockwise is a circular direction around a central point, the same way the hands on a clock turn. Clockwise goes towards the right.
Photo of a detour sign
Attribution-Sharealike

Dis forDetour

A detour is a path taken that goes out of the way of your usual path. Detours are usually set up when there is some obstacle and there needs to be a way around it. Used as a verb, it simply means you are taking a detour, for example "I am going to detour past the shops on my way home".
Photo of diagonal lines
Attribution-Sharealike

Dis forDiagonal

A line is diagonal if it is not straight up and down relative to things around it, or not horizontal or vertical. Diagonal lines are at an angle.
A direction is the way something is facing or moving. Most directions have names, like east, west, up, down, left or right.
Down is a direction. You go down when you go lower. The cat in the picture has just jumped down into a hole. The opposite of down is up.
Photo of a sunrise
Attribution-Sharealike

Eis forEast

East is a direction. The sun rises in the east each morning.