Act — Defs

01 n. That which is done or doing; the exercise of power, or the effect, of which power exerted is the cause; a performance; a deed.

1.
That which is done or doing; the exercise of power, or the effect, of which power exerted is the cause; a performance; a deed.
“That best portion of a good man's life, His little, nameless, unremembered acts Of kindness and of love.” — Wordsworth.
2.
The result of public deliberation; the decision or determination of a legislative body, council, court of justice, etc.; a decree, edit, law, judgment, resolve, award; as, an act of Parliament, or of Congress.
3.
A state of reality or real existence as opposed to a possibility or possible existence.[Obs.]
“The seeds of plants are not at first in act, but in possibility, what they afterward grow to be.” — Hooker.
4.
Process of doing; action. In act, in the very doing; on the point of (doing).
“This woman was taken . . . in the very act.” — John viii. 4.

Phrases & compounds

Act of attainder — See Attainder.

Act of bankruptcy — an act of a debtor which renders him liable to be adjudged a bankrupt.

Act of faith — See Auto-da-Fé.

Act of God — an inevitable accident; such extraordinary interruption of the usual course of events as is not to be looked for in advance, and against which ordinary prudence could not guard.

Act of grace — an expression often used to designate an act declaring pardon or amnesty to numerous offenders, as at the beginning of a new reign.

Act of indemnity — a statute passed for the protection of those who have committed some illegal act subjecting them to penalties.

Act in pais — a thing done out of court (anciently, in the country), and not a matter of record.

Syn. See Action.

02 v. t. To move to action; to actuate; to animate.

imp. & p. p. Acted; p. pr. & vb. n. Acting

1.
To move to action; to actuate; to animate.[Obs.]
“Self-love, the spring of motion, acts the soul.” — Pope.
2.
To perform; to execute; to do.[Archaic]
“That we act our temporal affairs with a desire no greater than our necessity.” — Jer. Taylor.

“Industry doth beget by producing good habits, and facility of acting things expedient for us to do.” — Barrow.

“Uplifted hands that at convenient times Could act extortion and the worst of crimes.” — Cowper.
3.
To perform, as an actor; to represent dramatically on the stage.
4.
To assume the office or character of; to play; to personate; as, to act the hero.
5.
To feign or counterfeit; to simulate.
“With acted fear the villain thus pursued.” — Dryden.

Phrases & compounds

To act a part — to sustain the part of one of the characters in a play; hence, to simulate; to dissemble.

To act the part of — to take the character of; to fulfill the duties of.

03 v. i. To exert power; to produce an effect; as, the stomach acts upon food.

1.
To exert power; to produce an effect; as, the stomach acts upon food.
2.
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.
3.
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.
4.
To perform on the stage; to represent a character.
“To show the world how Garrick did not act.” — Cowper.

Phrases & compounds

To act as — 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.