ac·tion ( k sh n)n.1. The state or process of acting or doing: The medical team went into action. 2. Something done or accomplished; a deed. See Usage Note at act. 3. Organized activity to accomplish an objective: a problem requiring drastic action. 4. The causation of change by the exertion of power or a natural process: the action of waves on a beach; the action of a drug on blood pressure. 5. A movement or a series of movements, as of an actor. 6. Manner of movement: a horse with fine action. 7. Habitual or vigorous activity; energy: a woman of action. 8. Behavior or conduct. Often used in the plural. 9. a. The operating parts of a mechanism. b. The manner in which such parts operate. c. The manner in which a musical instrument can be played; playability: a piano with quick action. 10. A change that occurs in the body or in a bodily organ as a result of its functioning. 11. A physical change, as in position, mass, or energy, that an object or a system undergoes. 12. The series of events and episodes that form the plot of a story or play. 13. The appearance of animation of a figure in painting or sculpture. 14. Law A judicial proceeding whose purpose is to obtain relief at the hands of a court. 15. a. Armed encounter; combat: missing in action. b. An engagement between troops or ships: fought a rear-guard action. 16. The most important or exciting work or activity in a specific field or area: always heads for where the action is.
action·less adj. |
action Noun 1. doing something for a particular purpose 2. something done on a particular occasion 3. a lawsuit 4. movement during some physical activity 5. the operating mechanism in a gun or machine 6. the way in which something operates or works 7. Slang the main activity in a place 8. the events that form the plot of a story or play 9. activity, force, or energy 10. a minor battle 11. actions behaviour 12. out of action not functioning
ThesaurusLegend: Synonyms Related Words Antonyms | Noun | 1. | action - something done (usually as opposed to something said); "there were stories of murders and other unnatural actions"thing - an action; "how could you do such a thing?" alienation - the action of alienating; the action of causing to become unfriendly; "his behavior alienated the other students" application - the action of putting something into operation; "the application of maximum thrust"; "massage has far-reaching medical applications"; "the application of indexes to tables of data" course of action, course - a mode of action; "if you persist in that course you will surely fail"; "once a nation is embarked on a course of action it becomes extremely difficult for any retraction to take place" interaction - a mutual or reciprocal action; interacting fetch - the action of fetching playing - the action of taking part in a game or sport or other recreation swordplay, play - the act using a sword (or other weapon) vigorously and skillfully arrival - the act of arriving at a certain place; "they awaited her arrival" carrying into action, carrying out, execution, performance - the act of performing; of doing something successfully; using knowledge as distinguished from merely possessing it; "they criticised his performance as mayor"; "experience generally improves performance" selection, choice, option, pick - the act of choosing or selecting; "your choice of colors was unfortunate"; "you can take your pick" change - the action of changing something; "the change of government had no impact on the economy"; "his change on abortion cost him the election" saving, economy - an act of economizing; reduction in cost; "it was a small economy to walk to work every day"; "there was a saving of 50 cents" forbiddance, inhibition, prohibition - the action of prohibiting or inhibiting or forbidding (or an instance thereof); "they were restrained by a prohibition in their charter"; "a medical inhibition of alcoholic beverages"; "he ignored his parents' forbiddance" opposition, resistance - the action of opposing something that you disapprove or disagree with; "he encountered a general feeling of resistance from many citizens"; "despite opposition from the newspapers he went ahead" bruxism - involuntarily or unconsciously clenching or grinding the teeth, typically during sleep transfusion - the action of pouring a liquid from one vessel to another pickings, taking - the act of someone who picks up or takes something; "the pickings were easy"; "clothing could be had for the taking" transgression - the action of going beyond or overstepping some boundary or limit reverence - an act showing respect (especially a bow or curtsy) consultation, reference - the act of referring or consulting; "reference to an encyclopedia produced the answer" beatification - the action of rendering supremely blessed and extremely happy jump-start, jumpstart - starting an automobile engine that has a weak battery by means of jumper cables to another car; "my battery was dead so I had to get a jumpstart from my neighbor" stupefaction - the action of stupefying; making dull or lethargic; "the professor was noted for his stupefaction of the students" vampirism - the actions or practices of a vampire | | 2. | action - the state of being active; "his sphere of activity"; "he is out of action"state - the way something is with respect to its main attributes; "the current state of knowledge"; "his state of health"; "in a weak financial state" agency - the state of being in action or exerting power; "the agency of providence"; "she has free agency" busyness, hum - the state of being or appearing to be actively engaged in an activity; "they manifested all the busyness of a pack of beavers"; "there is a constant hum of military preparation" behaviour, behavior - the action or reaction of something (as a machine or substance) under specified circumstances; "the behavior of small particles can be studied in experiments" operation - the state of being in effect or being operative; "that rule is no longer in operation" overdrive - the state of high or excessive activity or productivity or concentration; "Troops are ready to go into overdrive as soon as the signal is given"; "Melissa's brain was in overdrive" play - a state in which action is feasible; "the ball was still in play"; "insiders said the company's stock was in play" swing - a state of steady vigorous action that is characteristic of an activity; "the party went with a swing"; "it took time to get into the swing of things" | | 3. |  action - a military engagement; "he saw action in Korea"amphibious landing - a military action of coordinated land, sea, and air forces organized for an invasion; "MacArthur staged a massive amphibious landing behind enemy lines" battle, engagement, fight, conflict - a hostile meeting of opposing military forces in the course of a war; "Grant won a decisive victory in the battle of Chickamauga"; "he lost his romantic ideas about war when he got into a real engagement" defense, defensive measure, defence - (military) military action or resources protecting a country against potential enemies; "they died in the defense of Stalingrad"; "they were developed for the defense program" electronic warfare, EW - military action involving the use of electromagnetic energy to determine or exploit or reduce or prevent hostile use of the electromagnetic spectrum police action - a local military action without declaration of war; against violators of international peace and order resistance - the military action of resisting the enemy's advance; "the enemy offered little resistance" sortie, sally - a military action in which besieged troops burst forth from their position war, warfare - the waging of armed conflict against an enemy; "thousands of people were killed in the war" | | 4. |  action - a process existing in or produced by nature (rather than by the intent of human beings); "the action of natural forces"; "volcanic activity"physical process, process - a sustained phenomenon or one marked by gradual changes through a series of states; "events now in process"; "the process of calcification begins later for boys than for girls" radiation - the spread of a group of organisms into new habitats absorption - (physics) the process in which incident radiated energy is retained without reflection or transmission on passing through a medium; "the absorption of photons by atoms or molecules" acidification - the process of becoming acid or being converted into an acid adiabatic process - (thermodynamics) any process that occurs without gain or loss of heat aeration - the process of exposing to air (so as to purify); "the aeration of the soil" capture - any process in which an atomic or nuclear system acquires an additional particle capture - a process whereby a star or planet holds an object in its gravitational field centrifugation - the process of separating substances of different densities by the use of a centrifuge chromatography - a process used for separating mixtures by virtue of differences in absorbency concretion - the formation of stonelike objects within a body organ (e.g., the kidneys) condensation - the process of changing from a gaseous to a liquid or solid state convection - (meteorology) the vertical movement of heat or other properties by massive motion within the atmosphere decay - the process of gradually becoming inferior desorption - changing from an adsorbed state on a surface to a gaseous or liquid state diffusion - (physics) the process in which there is movement of a substance from an area of high concentration of that substance to an area of lower concentration drift - the gradual departure from an intended course due to external influences (as a ship or plane) ecesis, establishment - (ecology) the process by which a plant or animal becomes established in a new habitat extinction - the reduction of the intensity of radiation as a consequence of absorption and radiation extraction - the process of obtaining something from a mixture or compound by chemical or physical or mechanical means feedback - the process in which part of the output of a system is returned to its input in order to regulate its further output filtration - the process whereby fluids pass through a filter or a filtering medium flocculation - the process of flocculating; forming woolly cloudlike aggregations flow - any uninterrupted stream or discharge formation - natural process that causes something to form; "the formation of gas in the intestine"; "the formation of crystals"; "the formation of pseudopods" fossilisation, fossilization - the process of fossilizing a plant or animal that existed in some earlier age; the process of being turned to stone inactivation - the process of rendering inactive; "the gene inactivation system"; "thermal inactivation of serum samples" ion exchange - a process in which ions are exchanged between a solution and an insoluble (usually resinous) solid; widely used in industrial processing | | 5. | action - the series of events that form a plot; "his novels always have a lot of action"plot - the story that is told in a novel or play or movie etc.; "the characters were well drawn but the plot was banal" | | 6. |  action - the trait of being active and energetic and forceful; "a man of action"drive - the trait of being highly motivated; "his drive and energy exhausted his co-workers" | | 7. |  action - the operating part that transmits power to a mechanism; "the piano had a very stiff action"gun - a weapon that discharges a missile at high velocity (especially from a metal tube or barrel) key - a lever (as in a keyboard) that actuates a mechanism when depressed keyboard - device consisting of a set of keys on a piano or organ or typewriter or typesetting machine or computer or the like mechanism - device consisting of a piece of machinery; has moving parts that perform some function movement - the driving and regulating parts of a mechanism (as of a watch or clock); "it was an expensive watch with a diamond movement" piano action - action consisting of a system of levers that move a felt hammer to strike the strings when a key is depressed pump action, slide action - action mechanism in a modern rifle or shotgun; a back and forward motion of a sliding lever ejects the empty shell case and cocks the firearm and loads a new round | | 8. |  action - a judicial proceeding brought by one party against another; one party prosecutes another for a wrong done or for protection of a right or for prevention of a wrongantitrust case - a legal action brought against parties who are charged with limiting free competition in the market place civil action - legal action to protect a private civil right or to compel a civil remedy (as distinguished from criminal prosecution) counterclaim - a claim filed in opposition to another claim in a legal action custody case - a legal action to determine custody (usually of children following a divorce) test case, test suit - a representative legal action whose outcome is likely to become a precedent law, jurisprudence - the collection of rules imposed by authority; "civilization presupposes respect for the law"; "the great problem for jurisprudence to allow freedom while enforcing order" | | 9. |  action - an act by a government body or supranational organization; "recent federal action undermined the segregationist position"; "the United Nations must have the power to propose and organize action without being hobbled by irrelevant issues"; "the Union action of emancipating Southern slaves" | | 10. | action - the most important or interesting work or activity in a specific area or field; "the action is no longer in technology stocks but in municipal bonds"; "gawkers always try to get as close to the action as possible"work - activity directed toward making or doing something; "she checked several points needing further work" | | Verb | 1. |  action - institute legal proceedings against; file a suit against; "He was warned that the district attorney would process him"; "She actioned the company for discrimination"challenge - issue a challenge to; "Fischer challenged Spassky to a match" expedite - process fast and efficiently; "I will try to expedite the matter" | | 2. | action - put in effect; "carry out a task"; "execute the decision of the people"; "He actioned the operation"complete, finish - come or bring to a finish or an end; "He finished the dishes"; "She completed the requirements for her Master's Degree"; "The fastest runner finished the race in just over 2 hours; others finished in over 4 hours" get over - to bring (a necessary but unpleasant task) to an end; "Let's get this job over with"; "It's a question of getting over an unpleasant task" run - carry out; "run an errand" consummate - fulfill sexually; "consummate a marriage" do, perform - get (something) done; "I did my job" |
action noun 1. deed, move, act, performance, blow, exercise, achievement, stroke, undertaking, exploit, feat, accomplishment, exertion noun 3. lawsuit, case, cause, trial, suit, argument, proceeding, dispute, contest, prosecution, litigation noun 5. effect, working, work, force, power, process, effort, operation, activity, movement, influence, functioning, motion, exertion noun 6. battle, war, fight, fighting, conflict, clash, contest, encounter, combat, engagement, hostilities, warfare, fray, skirmish, sortie, affray  Translations action [ˈækʃən] n → acción f; acto; to take action → tomar medidas;
 action [ˈækʃən] n → action f;
 action [ˈækʃən] n → Tat f; out of action ( person) → nicht einsatzfähig;
 action [ˈækʃən] n → azione f;
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