| act | |
| 1. n. Something done, a deed. | |
| an act of goodwill | |
| 2. n. (obsolete) Actuality. | |
| 3. n. A product of a legislative body, a statute. | |
| 4. n. The process of doing something. | |
| He was caught in the act of stealing. | |
| 5. n. A formal or official record of something done. | |
| 6. n. A division of a theatrical performance. | |
| The pivotal moment in the play was in the first scene of the second act. | |
| 7. n. A performer or performers in a show. | |
| Which act did you prefer? The soloist or the band? | |
| 8. n. Any organized activity. | |
| 9. n. A display of behaviour. | |
| 10. n. A thesis maintained in public, in some English universities, by a candidate for a degree, or to show the proficiency of a student. | |
| 11. n. A display of behaviour meant to deceive. | |
| to put on an act | |
| 12. v. (intransitive) To do something. | |
| If you don't act soon, you will be in trouble. | |
| 13. v. (obsolete, transitive) To do (something); to perform. | |
| 14. v. (intransitive) To perform a theatrical role. | |
| I started acting at the age of eleven in my local theatre. | |
| 15. v. Of a play: to be acted out (well or badly). | |
| 16. v. (intransitive) To behave in a certain way. | |
| He's acting strangely - I think there's something wrong with him. | |
| 17. v. (copulative) To convey an appearance of being. | |
| He acted unconcerned so the others wouldn't worry. | |
| 18. v. To do something that causes a change binding on the doer. | |
| act on behalf of John | |
| 19. v. (intransitive, construed with on or upon) To have an effect (on). | |
| High-pressure oxygen acts on the central nervous system and may cause convulsions or death. | |
| Gravitational force acts on heavy bodies. | |
| 20. v. To play (a role). | |
| He's been acting Shakespearean leads since he was twelve. | |
| 21. v. To feign. | |
| He acted the angry parent, but was secretly amused. | |
| 22. v. (mathematics, intransitive, construed with on or upon, of a group) To map via a homomorphism to a group of automorphisms (of). | |
| This group acts on the circle, so it can't be left-orderable! | |
| 23. v. (obsolete, transitive) To move to action; to actuate; to animate. | |
