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directly adverb In a little while, before long, as soon as is convenient, later (sometimes used with deliberate vagueness to put off or delay a request); immediately. This term is subject to variable interpretation; see 1996 citation.

1864 C A Walker CW Letters (April 26) next morning we would stick up our hats and they would fire at us and directly the[y] begin to leave their brest works and we poured it into them. 1924 Raine Saddlebags 105 Children grow up directly. 1939 Hall Coll (Deep Creek NC) "They're not a-going [to] let [the bear] cross the Smoky," I said, "He'll turn back down directly." 1956 Hall Coll (Cosby TN) "If you don't speak to me," [the ghost] said, "I'll shoot you dreckly." 1965 Dict Queen's English 17 "I'll do that to-reckly." 1969 GSMNP-25:2:8 I could show you directly, but it's hard to tell you because I did have pillars laid up till I could tell you. 1981 Helton Around Home 377 = later. 1996 Montgomery Coll The usual sense is "in a little while, soon," indicating a definite intention or purpose, but sometimes the term conveys "after a while" if a person wishes to procrastinate; depending on the context, it may mean "at once, immediately."