Dictionary entry details
• ACTION (noun)
Meaning:
Something done (usually as opposed to something said)
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Context example:
there were stories of murders and other unnatural actions
Hypernyms ("action" is a kind of...):
act; human action; human activity (something that people do or cause to happen)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "action"):
vampirism (the actions or practices of a vampire)
opposition; resistance (the action of opposing something that you disapprove or disagree with)
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)
transgression (the action of going beyond or overstepping some boundary or limit)
aggression; hostility (violent action that is hostile and usually unprovoked)
destabilisation; destabilization (the action of destabilizing; making something less stable (especially of a government or country or economy))
employment; engagement (the act of giving someone a job)
consultation; reference (the act of referring or consulting)
accenting; accentuation; emphasizing (the act of giving special importance or significance to something)
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)
stupefaction (the action of stupefying; making dull or lethargic)
forbiddance; inhibition; prohibition (the action of prohibiting or inhibiting or forbidding (or an instance thereof))
economy; saving (an act of economizing; reduction in cost)
thing (an action)
benignity; kindness (a kind act)
accomplishment; achievement (the action of accomplishing something)
alienation (the action of alienating; the action of causing to become unfriendly)
res gestae (things done)
course; course of action (a mode of action)
interaction (a mutual or reciprocal action; interacting)
fetch (the action of fetching)
change (the action of changing something)
choice; option; pick; selection (the act of choosing or selecting)
carrying into action; carrying out; execution; performance (the act of performing; of doing something successfully; using knowledge as distinguished from merely possessing it)
arrival (the act of arriving at a certain place)
play; swordplay (the act using a sword (or other weapon) vigorously and skillfully)
playing (the action of taking part in a game or sport or other recreation)
Meaning:
The state of being active
Classified under:
Nouns denoting stable states of affairs
Synonyms:
activeness; action; activity
Context examples:
his sphere of activity / he is out of action
Hypernyms ("action" is a kind of...):
state (the way something is with respect to its main attributes)
Attribute:
active ((of e.g. volcanos) erupting or liable to erupt)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "action"):
swing (a state of steady vigorous action that is characteristic of an activity)
play (a state in which action is feasible)
overdrive (the state of high or excessive activity or productivity or concentration)
operation (the state of being in effect or being operative)
eructation; eruption; extravasation ((of volcanos) pouring out fumes of lava (or a deposit so formed))
behavior; behaviour (the action or reaction of something (as a machine or substance) under specified circumstances)
busyness; hum (the state of being or appearing to be actively engaged in an activity)
agency (the state of being in action or exerting power)
Antonym:
inaction (the state of being inactive)
Meaning:
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 wrong
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Synonyms:
action at law; legal action; action
Hypernyms ("action" is a kind of...):
legal proceeding; proceeding; proceedings ((law) the institution of a sequence of steps by which legal judgments are invoked)
Domain category:
jurisprudence; law (the collection of rules imposed by authority)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "action"):
test case; test suit (a representative legal action whose outcome is likely to become a precedent)
criminal prosecution; prosecution (the institution and conduct of legal proceedings against a defendant for criminal behavior)
lis pendens (a pending lawsuit)
custody case (a legal action to determine custody (usually of children following a divorce))
counterclaim (a claim filed in opposition to another claim in a legal action)
civil action (legal action to protect a private civil right or to compel a civil remedy (as distinguished from criminal prosecution))
antitrust case (a legal action brought against parties who are charged with limiting free competition in the market place)
Meaning:
An act by a government body or supranational organization
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Context examples:
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
Hypernyms ("action" is a kind of...):
group action (action taken by a group of people)
Meaning:
A military engagement
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Synonyms:
military action; action
Context example:
he saw action in Korea
Hypernyms ("action" is a kind of...):
group action (action taken by a group of people)
Domain category:
armed forces; armed services; military; military machine; war machine (the military forces of a nation)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "action"):
war; warfare (the waging of armed conflict against an enemy)
sally; sortie (a military action in which besieged troops burst forth from their position)
saber rattling; sabre rattling (the ostentatious display of military power (with the implied threat that it might be used))
resistance (the military action of resisting the enemy's advance)
police action (a local military action without declaration of war; against violators of international peace and order)
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)
defence; defense; defensive measure (military action or resources protecting a country against potential enemies)
blockade; encirclement (a war measure that isolates some area of importance to the enemy)
battle; conflict; engagement; fight (a hostile meeting of opposing military forces in the course of a war)
amphibious landing (a military action of coordinated land and sea and air forces organized for an invasion)
Meaning:
A process existing in or produced by nature (rather than by the intent of human beings)
Classified under:
Nouns denoting natural processes
Synonyms:
natural process; natural action; activity; action
Context examples:
the action of natural forces / volcanic activity
Hypernyms ("action" is a kind of...):
physical process; process (a sustained phenomenon or one marked by gradual changes through a series of states)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "action"):
opacification (the process of becoming cloudy or opaque)
oscillation (the process of oscillating between states)
oxygenation (the process of providing or combining or treating with oxygen)
pair creation; pair formation; pair production (the transformation of a gamma-ray photon into an electron and a positron when the photon passes close to an atomic nucleus)
phase change; phase transition; physical change; state change (a change from one state (solid or liquid or gas) to another without a change in chemical composition)
precession of the equinoxes (a slow westward shift of the equinoxes along the plane of the ecliptic caused by precession of the Earth's axis of rotation)
nuclear reaction ((physics) a process that alters the energy or structure or composition of atomic nuclei)
materialisation; materialization (the process of coming into being; becoming reality)
magnetic induction; magnetisation; magnetization (the process that makes a substance magnetic (temporarily or permanently))
leach; leaching (the process of leaching)
ionisation; ionization (the process of ionizing; the formation of ions by separating atoms or molecules or radicals or by adding or subtracting electrons from atoms by strong electric fields in a gas)
ion exchange (a process in which ions are exchanged between a solution and an insoluble (usually resinous) solid; widely used in industrial processing)
inactivation (the process of rendering inactive)
curing; hardening; set; solidification; solidifying (the process of becoming hard or solid by cooling or drying or crystallization)
geologic process; geological process ((geology) a natural process whereby geological features are modified)
release (a process that liberates or discharges something)
saltation ((geology) the leaping movement of sand or soil particles as they are transported in a fluid medium over an uneven surface)
scattering (the physical process in which particles are deflected haphazardly as a result of collisions)
transpiration (the passage of gases through fine tubes because of differences in pressure or temperature)
transduction (the process whereby a transducer accepts energy in one form and gives back related energy in a different form)
temperature change (a process whereby the degree of hotness of a body (or medium) changes)
synergism; synergy (the working together of two things (muscles or drugs for example) to produce an effect greater than the sum of their individual effects)
natural selection; selection; survival; survival of the fittest (a natural process resulting in the evolution of organisms best adapted to the environment)
ecological succession; succession ((ecology) the gradual and orderly process of change in an ecosystem brought about by the progressive replacement of one community by another until a stable climax is established)
stimulation ((physiology) the effect of a stimulus (on nerves or organs etc.))
rigidification; rigidifying; stiffening (the process of becoming stiff or rigid)
source ((technology) a process by which energy or a substance enters a system)
sorption (the process in which one substance takes up or holds another (by either absorption or adsorption))
softening (the process of becoming softer)
soak; soakage; soaking (the process of becoming softened and saturated as a consequence of being immersed in water (or other liquid))
sink ((technology) a process that acts to absorb or remove energy or a substance from a system)
sericulture (raising silkworms in order to obtain raw silk)
vitrification (the process of becoming vitreous)
radiation (the spread of a group of organisms into new habitats)
clotting; coagulation; curdling (the process of forming semisolid lumps in a liquid)
convection ((meteorology) the vertical movement of heat or other properties by massive motion within the atmosphere)
condensation (the process of changing from a gaseous to a liquid or solid state)
concretion (the formation of stonelike objects within a body organ (e.g., the kidneys))
chromatography (a process used for separating mixtures by virtue of differences in absorbency)
chemical action; chemical change; chemical process ((chemistry) any process determined by the atomic and molecular composition and structure of the substances involved)
centrifugation (the process of separating substances by the use of a centrifuge)
capture (a process whereby a star or planet holds an object in its gravitational field)
capture (any process in which an atomic or nuclear system acquires an additional particle)
antiredeposition (the process of preventing redeposition)
aeration (the process of exposing to air (so as to purify))
adiabatic process ((thermodynamics) any process that occurs without gain or loss of heat)
acidification (the process of becoming acid or being converted into an acid)
absorption ((physics) the process in which incident radiated energy is retained without reflection or transmission on passing through a medium)
decay (the process of gradually becoming inferior)
demagnetisation; demagnetization (the process of removing magnetization)
desorption (changing from an adsorbed state on a surface to a gaseous or liquid state)
fossilisation; fossilization (the process of fossilizing a plant or animal that existed in some earlier age; the process of being turned to stone)
formation (natural process that causes something to form)
flow (any uninterrupted stream or discharge)
flocculation (the process of flocculating; forming woolly cloudlike aggregations)
filtration (the process whereby fluids pass through a filter or a filtering medium)
feedback (the process in which part of the output of a system is returned to its input in order to regulate its further output)
extraction (the process of obtaining something from a mixture or compound by chemical or physical or mechanical means)
extinction (the reduction of the intensity of radiation as a consequence of absorption and radiation)
ecesis; establishment ((ecology) the process by which a plant or animal becomes established in a new habitat)
diffusion ((physics) the process of diffusing; the intermingling of molecules in gases and liquids as a result of random thermal agitation)
disintegration; dissolution (separation into component parts)
distillation; distillment (the process of purifying a liquid by boiling it and condensing its vapors)
drift (the gradual departure from an intended course due to external influences (as a ship or plane))
effervescence (the process of bubbling as gas escapes)
cataphoresis; dielectrolysis; electrophoresis; ionophoresis (the motion of charged particles in a colloid under the influence of an electric field; particles with a positive charge go to the cathode and negative to the anode)
Meaning:
The series of events that form a plot
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
Context example:
his novels always have a lot of action
Hypernyms ("action" is a kind of...):
plot (the story that is told in a novel or play or movie etc.)
Meaning:
The operating part that transmits power to a mechanism
Classified under:
Nouns denoting man-made objects
Synonyms:
action mechanism; action
Context example:
the piano had a very stiff action
Hypernyms ("action" is a kind of...):
mechanism (device consisting of a piece of machinery; has moving parts that perform some function)
Meronyms (parts of "action"):
key (a lever that actuates a mechanism when depressed)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "action"):
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)
piano action (action consisting of a system of levers that move a felt hammer to strike the strings when a key is depressed)
movement (the driving and regulating parts of a mechanism (as of a watch or clock))
firing mechanism; gunlock (the action that ignites the charge in a firearm)
Holonyms ("action" is a part of...):
keyboard (device consisting of a set of keys on a piano or organ or typewriter or typesetting machine or computer or the like)
gun (a weapon that discharges a missile at high velocity (especially from a metal tube or barrel))
Meaning:
The trait of being active and energetic and forceful
Classified under:
Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects
Context example:
a man of action
Hypernyms ("action" is a kind of...):
drive (the trait of being highly motivated)
Meaning:
The most important or interesting work or activity in a specific area or field
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Context examples:
the action is no longer in technology stocks but in municipal bonds / gawkers always try to get as close to the action as possible
Hypernyms ("action" is a kind of...):
work (activity directed toward making or doing something)
• ACTION (verb)
Meaning:
Institute legal proceedings against; file a suit against
Classified under:
Verbs of political and social activities and events
Synonyms:
action; sue; litigate; process
Context examples:
He was warned that the district attorney would process him / She actioned the company for discrimination
Hypernyms (to "action" is one way to...):
challenge (issue a challenge to)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "action"):
expedite (process fast and efficiently)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s somebody
Meaning:
Put in effect
Classified under:
Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing
Synonyms:
fulfill; fulfil; carry through; carry out; accomplish; action; execute
Context examples:
carry out a task / execute the decision of the people / He actioned the operation
Hypernyms (to "action" is one way to...):
complete; finish (come or bring to a finish or an end)
effect; effectuate; set up (produce)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "action"):
complete; discharge; dispatch (complete or carry out)
do; perform (get (something) done)
consummate (fulfill sexually)
consummate (make perfect; bring to perfection)
run (carry out)
get over (to bring (a necessary but unpleasant task) to an end)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s something
