DIRECTOR

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does director mean? 

• DIRECTOR (noun)
  The noun DIRECTOR has 5 senses:

1. someone who controls resources and expenditures

2. member of a board of directors

3. someone who supervises the actors and directs the action in the production of a show

4. the person who directs the making of a film

5. the person who leads a musical group

  Familiarity information: DIRECTOR used as a noun is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• DIRECTOR (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Someone who controls resources and expenditures

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

director; manager; managing director

Hypernyms ("director" is a kind of...):

administrator; decision maker (someone who administers a business)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "director"):

manageress (a woman manager)

district manager (a manager who supervises the sales activity for a district)

bank manager (manager of a branch office of a bank)

Derivation:

direct (be in charge of)

directorship (the position of a director of a business concern)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Member of a board of directors

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("director" is a kind of...):

committee member (a member of a committee)

Holonyms ("director" is a member of...):

board (a committee having supervisory powers)

Derivation:

directorship (the position of a director of a business concern)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Someone who supervises the actors and directs the action in the production of a show

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

director; theater director; theatre director

Hypernyms ("director" is a kind of...):

supervisor (one who supervises or has charge and direction of)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "director"):

stage director (someone who supervises the actors and directs the action in the production of a stage show)

Instance hyponyms:

Granville-Barker; Harley Granville-Barker (English actor and dramatist and critic and director noted for his productions of Shakespearean plays (1877-1946))

Elia Kazan; Elia Kazanjoglous; Kazan (United States stage and screen director (born in Turkey) and believer in method acting (1909-2003))

Konstantin Sergeevich Alekseev; Konstantin Sergeyevich Stanislavsky; Konstantin Stanislavsky; Stanislavsky (Russian actor and theater director who trained his actors to emphasize the psychological motivation of their roles (1863-1938))

Derivation:

direct (guide the actors in (plays and films))

Sense 4

Meaning:

The person who directs the making of a film

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

director; film director

Hypernyms ("director" is a kind of...):

film maker; film producer; filmmaker; movie maker (a producer of motion pictures)

Instance hyponyms:

Bergman; Ingmar Bergman (Swedish film director who used heavy symbolism and explored the psychology of the characters (born 1918))

Bunuel; Luis Bunuel (Spanish film director (1900-1983))

Alfred Hitchcock; Alfred Joseph Hitchcock; Hitchcock; Sir Alfred Hitchcock (English film director noted for his skill in creating suspense (1899-1980))

Israel Strassberg; Lee Strasberg; Strasberg (United States actor and film director (born in Austria) who was a leader in developing method acting in the United States (1901-1982))

Sense 5

Meaning:

The person who leads a musical group

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

conductor; director; music director

Hypernyms ("director" is a kind of...):

musician (artist who composes or conducts music as a profession)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "director"):

bandmaster (the conductor of a band)

drum major (the leader of a marching band or drum corps)

drum majorette; majorette (a female drum major)

bandleader (the leader of a dance band)

Instance hyponyms:

Arturo Toscanini; Toscanini (Italian conductor of many orchestras worldwide (1867-1957))

Sir Henry Joseph Wood; Sir Henry Wood; Wood (English conductor (1869-1944))

Baron Karl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber; Carl Maria von Weber; Weber (German conductor and composer of romantic operas (1786-1826))

Bruno Walter; Walter (German conductor (1876-1962))

George Szell; Szell (United States conductor (born in Hungary) (1897-1970))

Leopold Antoni Stanislaw Stokowski; Leopold Stokowski; Stokowski (United States conductor (born in Britain) (1882-1977))

Ozawa; Seiji Ozawa (United States conductor (born in Japan in 1935))

Gustav Mahler; Mahler (Austrian composer and conductor (1860-1911))

Constant Lambert; Lambert; Leonard Constant Lambert (English composer and conductor (1905-1951))

Koussevitzky; Serge Koussevitzky; Sergei Aleksandrovich Koussevitzky (United States conductor (born in Russia) who was noted for performing the works of contemporary composers (1874-1951))

Hindemith; Paul Hindemith (German neoclassical composer and conductor who believed that music should have a social purpose (1895-1963))

Arthur Fiedler; Fiedler (popular United States conductor (1894-1979))

Benjamin Britten; Britten; Edward Benjamin Britten; Lord Britten of Aldeburgh (major English composer of the 20th century; noted for his operas (1913-1976))

Bernstein; Leonard Bernstein (United States conductor and composer (1918-1990))

Eugene Ormandy; Ormandy (United States conductor (born in Hungary) (1899-1985))

Derivation:

direct (lead, as in the performance of a composition)

 Context examples 

This study sends a hopeful message that ecosystems can be surprisingly resilient if given enough time after a major disturbance, said Doug Levey, a program director in NSF's Division of Environmental Biology.

(Coastal birds can weather the storm, but not the sea, National Science Foundation)

“Ever wonder why we forget many of our dreams?” said Thomas Kilduff, Ph.D., director of the Center for Neuroscience at SRI International, Menlo Park, California, and a senior author of the study.

(The brain may actively forget during dream sleep, National Institutes of Health)

The laboratory director establishes policies and procedures that govern the utilization of community laboratory services, and ensures that the laboratory and support personnel receive the appropriate training associated with the work involved.

(Laboratory Director, NCI Thesaurus)

This internal compass can help orient animals who live in a complex, dynamic three-dimensional habitat,” said Mike Sieracki, a program director in NSF's Division of Ocean Sciences.

(North Atlantic haddock use magnetic compass to guide them, National Science Foundation)

“A healthy ocean with abundant wildlife is capable of slowing the rate of climate breakdown substantially,” said Dr Monica Verbeek, the executive director of the group Seas at Risk.

(Oceans running out of oxygen at unprecedented rate, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

"This study provides a new perspective on the largest mass extinction event in Earth's history," said Dena Smith, a program director in NSF's Division of Earth Sciences.

(Mass extinction of land and sea biodiversity 250 million years ago not simultaneous, National Science Foundation)

"This work begins to identify the molecular components of the plant immune system," says Gerald Schoenknecht, a program director in NSF's Division of Integrative Organismal Systems.

(New way to identify disease-resistant genes in chocolate-producing trees, National Science Foundation)

David Harris, CSIRO research director says “the special thing about the technology that we have is that it allows you to produce very pure hydrogen directly with a membrane system from ammonia.”

(Cars Powered by New Fuel Type Tested in Australia, VOA)

"This study combines geophysical and geochemical data to infer how porous space is created in the subsurface," said Lina Patino, director of NSF's Division of Earth Sciences.

(Study explores how rock expands near soil surface in Sierra Nevada, National Science Foundation)

The date on which the protocol is signed by the study director.

(Nonclinical Study Start Date, Food and Drug Administration/CDISC)