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action

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action


  3  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Action  \Ac"tion\,  n.  [OF.  action  L.  actio,  fr  agere  to  do  See 
  {Act}.] 
  1.  A  process  or  condition  of  acting  or  moving  as  opposed  to 
  rest;  the  doing  of  something  exertion  of  power  or  force, 
  as  when  one  body  acts  on  another;  the  effect  of  power 
  exerted  on  one  body  by  another;  agency;  activity; 
  operation;  as  the  action  of  heat;  a  man  of  action 
 
  One  wise  in  council,  one  in  action  brave.  --Pope. 
 
  2.  An  act  a  thing  done  a  deed;  an  enterprise.  (pl.): 
  Habitual  deeds;  hence  conduct;  behavior;  demeanor. 
 
  The  Lord  is  a  Good  of  knowledge,  and  by  him  actions 
  are  weighed.  --1  Sam.  ii 
  3. 
 
  3.  The  event  or  connected  series  of  events,  either  real  or 
  imaginary,  forming  the  subject  of  a  play,  poem,  or  other 
  composition;  the  unfolding  of  the  drama  of  events. 
 
  4.  Movement;  as  the  horse  has  a  spirited  action 
 
  5.  (Mech.)  Effective  motion;  also  mechanism;  as  the  breech 
  action  of  a  gun. 
 
  6.  (Physiol.)  Any  one  of  the  active  processes  going  on  in  an 
  organism;  the  performance  of  a  function;  as  the  action  of 
  the  heart,  the  muscles,  or  the  gastric  juice. 
 
  7.  (Orat.)  Gesticulation;  the  external  deportment  of  the 
  speaker,  or  the  suiting  of  his  attitude,  voice,  gestures, 
  and  countenance,  to  the  subject,  or  to  the  feelings. 
 
  8.  (Paint.  &  Sculp.)  The  attitude  or  position  of  the  several 
  parts  of  the  body  as  expressive  of  the  sentiment  or 
  passion  depicted. 
 
  9.  (Law) 
  a  A  suit  or  process,  by  which  a  demand  is  made  of  a 
  right  in  a  court  of  justice;  in  a  broad  sense  a 
  judicial  proceeding  for  the  enforcement  or  protection 
  of  a  right  the  redress  or  prevention  of  a  wrong  or 
  the  punishment  of  a  public  offense. 
  b  A  right  of  action  as  the  law  gives  an  action  for 
  every  claim. 
 
  10.  (Com.)  A  share  in  the  capital  stock  of  a  joint-stock 
  company,  or  in  the  public  funds;  hence  in  the  plural, 
  equivalent  to  stocks.  [A  Gallicism]  [Obs.] 
 
  The  Euripus  of  funds  and  actions.  --Burke. 
 
  11.  An  engagement  between  troops  in  war,  whether  on  land  or 
  water;  a  battle;  a  fight;  as  a  general  action  a  partial 
  action 
 
  12.  (Music)  The  mechanical  contrivance  by  means  of  which  the 
  impulse  of  the  player's  finger  is  transmitted  to  the 
  strings  of  a  pianoforte  or  to  the  valve  of  an  organ  pipe. 
  --Grove. 
 
  {Chose  in  action}.  (Law)  See  {Chose}. 
 
  {Quantity  of  action}  (Physics),  the  product  of  the  mass  of  a 
  body  by  the  space  it  runs  through  and  its  velocity. 
 
  Syn:  {Action},  {Act}. 
 
  Usage:  In  many  cases  action  and  act  are  synonymous;  but  some 
  distinction  is  observable.  Action  involves  the  mode  or 
  process  of  acting,  and  is  usually  viewed  as  occupying 
  some  time  in  doing  Act  has  more  reference  to  the 
  effect,  or  the  operation  as  complete. 
 
  To  poke  the  fire  is  an  act  to  reconcile  friends 
  who  have  quarreled  is  a  praiseworthy  action 
  --C.  J.  Smith. 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Petitory  \Pet"i*to*ry\,  a.  [L.  petitorius  fr  petere,  petitum 
  to  beg,  ask:  cf  F.  p['e]titore.] 
  Petitioning;  soliciting;  supplicating.  --Sir  W.  Hamilton. 
 
  {Petitory  suit}  or  {action}  (Admiralty  Law),  a  suit  in  which 
  the  mere  title  to  property  is  litigated  and  sought  to  be 
  enforced,  as  distinguished  from  a  possessory  suit;  also 
  (Scots  Law),  a  suit  wherein  the  plaintiff  claims  something 
  as  due  him  by  the  defendant.  --Burrill. 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  action 
  n  1:  something  done  (usually  as  opposed  to  something  said); 
  "there  were  stories  of  murders  and  other  unnatural 
  actions" 
  2:  the  state  of  being  active;  "his  sphere  of  activity";  "he  is 
  out  of  action"  [syn:  {activity},  {activeness}]  [ant:  {inaction}, 
  {inaction},  {inaction}] 
  3:  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  [syn:  {legal 
  action},  {action  at  law}] 
  4:  a  military  engagement;  "he  saw  action  in  Korea"  [syn:  {military 
  action}] 
  5:  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" 
  6:  a  process  existing  in  or  produced  by  nature  (rather  than  by 
  the  intent  of  human  beings);  "the  action  of  natural 
  forces";  "volcanic  activity"  [syn:  {natural  process},  {natural 
  action},  {activity}] 
  7:  the  series  of  events  that  form  a  plot;  "his  novels  always 
  have  a  lot  of  action" 
  8:  the  operating  part  that  transmits  power  to  a  mechanism;  "the 
  piano  had  a  very  stiff  action" 
  9:  the  trait  of  being  active  and  energetic  and  forceful;  "a  man 
  of  action" 




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