The Collaborative International Dictionary
Real \Re"al\ (r[=e]"al), a. [LL. realis, fr. L. res, rei, a thing: cf. F. r['e]el. Cf. Rebus.]
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Actually being or existing; not fictitious or imaginary; as, a description of real life.
Whereat I waked, and found Before mine eyes all real, as the dream Had lively shadowed.
--Milton. -
True; genuine; not artificial, counterfeit, or factitious; often opposed to ostensible; as, the real reason; real Madeira wine; real ginger.
Whose perfection far excelled Hers in all real dignity.
--Milton. -
Relating to things, not to persons. [Obs.]
Many are perfect in men's humors that are not greatly capable of the real part of business.
--Bacon. (Alg.) Having an assignable arithmetical or numerical value or meaning; not imaginary.
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(Law) Pertaining to things fixed, permanent, or immovable, as to lands and tenements; as, real property, in distinction from personal or movable property.
Chattels real (Law), such chattels as are annexed to, or savor of, the realty, as terms for years of land. See Chattel.
Real action (Law), an action for the recovery of real property.
Real assets (Law), lands or real estate in the hands of the heir, chargeable with the debts of the ancestor.
Real composition (Eccl. Law), an agreement made between the owner of lands and the parson or vicar, with consent of the ordinary, that such lands shall be discharged from payment of tithes, in consequence of other land or recompense given to the parson in lieu and satisfaction thereof.
--Blackstone.Real estate or Real property, lands, tenements, and hereditaments; freehold interests in landed property; property in houses and land.
--Kent.
--Burrill.Real presence (R. C. Ch.), the actual presence of the body and blood of Christ in the eucharist, or the conversion of the substance of the bread and wine into the real body and blood of Christ; transubstantiation. In other churches there is a belief in a form of real presence, not however in the sense of transubstantiation.
Real servitude, called also Predial servitude (Civil Law), a burden imposed upon one estate in favor of another estate of another proprietor.
--Erskine.
--Bouvier.Syn: Actual; true; genuine; authentic.
Usage: Real, Actual. Real represents a thing to be a substantive existence; as, a real, not imaginary, occurrence. Actual refers to it as acted or performed; and, hence, when we wish to prove a thing real, we often say, ``It actually exists,'' ``It has actually been done.'' Thus its reality is shown by its actuality. Actual, from this reference to being acted, has recently received a new signification, namely, present; as, the actual posture of affairs; since what is now in action, or going on, has, of course, a present existence. An actual fact; a real sentiment.
For he that but conceives a crime in thought, Contracts the danger of an actual fault.
--Dryden.Our simple ideas are all real; all agree to the reality of things.
--Locke.
Usage examples of "real action".
The real action was taking place out by the massive towering gantry, where galeforce winds whipped the steam from the shuttle's rocket end.
At Hendley Associates he'd discovered that his talents were also quite useful in a business sense, but, of course, he'd never lost his nose for the real action.
Jack was fretting because thus far he had seen so little of real action.
Hypotheses not taken as the springboard for real action may be false but not fatal.
Both Bloor and I had spent a full day at sea -- on the only boats in the tournament getting any real action, Sun Dancer and Lucky Striker -- and by dusk on Friday, we had pretty well come to the conclusion that deep-sea fishing is not one of your king-hell spectator sports.
The most common was that the real action was now going to take place somewhere far away from Fifty Fifty.
It was clear that it had been years since they had seen any real action.
A new, smaller pocket was formed, the elimination of which we again left to the infantry who had, so far, only marched and not yet seen any real action.