The Collaborative International Dictionary
Act \Act\, v. i.
To exert power; to produce an effect; as, the stomach acts upon food.
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To perform actions; to fulfill functions; to put forth energy; to move, as opposed to remaining at rest; to carry into effect a determination of the will.
He hangs between, in doubt to act or rest.
--Pope. To behave or conduct, as in morals, private duties, or public offices; to bear or deport one's self; as, we know not why he has acted so.
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To perform on the stage; to represent a character.
To show the world how Garrick did not act.
--Cowper.To act as or To act for, to do the work of; to serve as.
To act on, to regulate one's conduct according to.
To act up to, to equal in action; to fulfill in practice; as, he has acted up to his engagement or his advantages.
to act up, to misbehave
Usage examples of "to act on".
A man who by words and gestures pretends to act on supernatural beings, and compel them to descend at his call and obey his orders.
And I'll be damned if I'll take the blame for it -- or if I will try to act on orders filmed on such a screw-up, illogical, inconsistent wisp of mylar.
Now was a good time to act on them, before the gambler closed up shop for the day or got into a confrontation with a couple of the men he was playing against, which seemed a likely possibility.
If we were never to act on our opinions, because those opinions may be wrong, we should leave all our interests uncared for, and all our duties unperformed.
We only know they refuse to act on their own, and through their representatives keep the Grey Council from taking action.
I had nowhere to go, but my hands seemed to act on their own, leading me somewhere.
Thereafter it flies about in response to his or her will and must be directed to touch a being and function for the healing powers to act on that being.
By law, Admiral P'Marc Willis was the supreme Confederation authority in this quadrant of Human Space, with the power granted to him personally by the Confederation Council of Worlds to act on its behalf on his own initiative.
For the third time in an hour, he felt compelled, pulled almost as if by tractor beam, to take the helm and fly the ship himself, but knew better than to act on that impulse.
Though Captain Picard had graciously allowed a schedule of guided tours of his vessel to anyone who might be interested, Creij had not yet had the opportunity to act on the gesture.
This states that everything you do to others, both good and bad, will be sent back to act on you with three times its intensity and strength.