- conduct
- conduct n *behavior, deportmentconduct vb1 escort, convoy, *accompany, attend, chaperon2 Conduct, manage, control, direct are comparable when they mean to use one's skill, authority, or other powers in order to lead, guide, command, or dominate persons or things.Conduct may imply the act of an agent who is both the leader and the person responsible for the acts and achievements of a group having a common end or goal{
conduct an orchestra
}{the minister conducts the prayer meetings
}{Douglas conducted conferences and studies which led to a reorganization of the Stock Exchange— Current Biog.
}but often the idea of leadership is lost or obscured and the stress is placed on a carrying on by all or by many of the participants{debates, conducted seriously with a view to ascertaining the truth, could be of great value— Russell
}{it was judged desirable for him to see how affairs were conducted in the United States— Heiser
}Manage usually implies the handling, manipulating, or maneuvering of a person or persons or a thing or things so as to bring about a response or submission to one's wishes or attempts to use, guide, lead, or command{he manages the sailboat admirably
}{he cannot manage himself, so how can he be expected to manage others
}{manage a refractory child
}{the boy . . . could not yet manage his "r's" and "th's" aright— Kipling
}{the first condition for an artist in glass is to know how to manage blue— Henry Adams
}{now do you leave this affair in my hands. Only tell me which woman it is and I will manage the affair— Buck
}But manage is also often used to imply the action of one who is in authority and charged with the handling of the details of a business or industry or of one of its departments or of any complex or intricate system or organization{he manages a theater
}{manage the financial affairs of a company
}{the delight she would take in managing a real house, not in any sense as its drudge, but magnificently as its mistress— Dell
}{manage a chain of restaurants
}Control stresses the idea of authoritative guidance and suggests a keeping within set or desired bounds (as of accuracy, efficiency, propriety, or discipline); it implies a regulating or a restraining often by getting or keeping the upper hand{no attempt was made ... to control by public authority the production and distribution of wealth— Dickinson
}{in order to make its highways most useful, the business traffic upon them must be controlled— Justice Holmes
}{he started things moving and then was caught up in the repercussions of the movement. He mounted an act as if it were a horse, found himself unable to control it— Cloete
}Sometimes, however, control implies little more than domination or the complete subjection of the dominated person or thing to one's will{he has learned to control himself
}{the struggle between two strong- willed women to control one weak-willed man is the usual motive of the French drama in the nineteenth century— Henry Adams
}{pirates at one time practically controlled the coasts of Florida— Amer. Guide Series: Fla.
}Direct (see also COMMAND, DIRECT 1, DIRECT 2) implies a regulation of the activities (as of a group of persons) or of the course or courses to be followed; it carries no suggestion of a desire or aim to dominate, but of an intent or purpose to keep the persons or things involved straight, well organized, or properly administered{the president and trustees direct the affairs of the institution
}{the architect directed the building of the bank
}{direct American taste and mold the genius of the young republic— Brooks
}Analogous words: supervise, oversee (see corresponding nouns at OVERSIGHT): *govern, rule: engineer, pilot, steer, lead (see GUIDE vb): operate, work, function (see ACT vb)2 demean, deport, *behave, comport, acquit, quit
New Dictionary of Synonyms. 2014.
