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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

action.

The effort of performing or doing something.

6 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈækʃən̩/Received-Pronunciation[ˈækʃn̩]Received-Pronunciation/ˈakʃən̩/British, Northern-England, Scotland, Southern, Standard, Wales[ˈakʃn̩]British, Northern-England, Scotland, Southern, Standard, Wales
  1. The effort of performing or doing something.

    countable · uncountable
  2. Something done, often so as to accomplish a purpose.

    countable · uncountable
  3. A way of motion or functioning.

    countable · uncountable
    Knead bread with a rocking action.
  4. Fast-paced activity.

    countable · uncountable
    a movie full of exciting action
  5. The way in which a mechanical device acts when used; especially a firearm.

    countable · uncountable
    Pressing a piano key causes the action of the hammer on the string.
  6. The way in which a mechanical device acts when used; especially a firearm. The way in which cartridges are loaded, locked, and extracted from the mechanism.

    countable · uncountable
    pump-action shotgun
  7. A physical mechanism of a firearm or other device.

    countable · uncountable
  8. The mechanism, that is the set of moving mechanical parts, of a keyboard instrument, like a piano, which transfers the motion of the key to the sound-making device.

    countable · uncountable
    The run in bar 12 is almost impossible with this piano's heavy action.
  9. The distance separating the strings and the fingerboard on a string instrument.

    countable · uncountable
    You're getting fret buzz because the action is too low.
  10. Sexual intercourse.

    countable · slang · uncountable
    She gave him some action.
    I hope to get a bit of action with the hot guy from the club.
  11. Combat.

    countable · uncountable
    He saw some action in the Korean War.
  12. A charge or other process in a law court (also called lawsuit and actio).

    countable · uncountable
  13. A way in which each element of some algebraic structure transforms some other structure or set, in a way which respects the structure of the first. Formally, this may be seen as a morphism from the first structure into some structure of endomorphisms of the second; for example, a group action of a group G on a set S can be seen as a group homomorphism from G into the set of bijections on S (which form a group under function composition), while a module M over a ring R can be defined as an abelian group together with a ring homomorphism from R into the ring of group endomorphisms of M (which is also called the action of R on M).

    countable · uncountable
  14. The product of energy and time, especially the product of the Lagrangian and time.

    countable · uncountable
  15. 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.

    countable · uncountable
  16. The attitude or position of the several parts of the body as expressive of the sentiment or passion depicted.

    countable · uncountable
  17. spin put on the bowling ball.

    countable · uncountable
  18. A share in the capital stock of a joint-stock company, or in the public funds.

    countable · obsolete · uncountable
  19. A religious performance or solemn function, i.e. action sermon, a sacramental sermon in the Scots Presbyterian Church.

    countable · uncountable
  20. A process existing in or produced by nature (rather than by the intent of human beings).

    countable · uncountable
  21. Purposeful behavior.

    Austrian · countable · uncountable
  22. A demonstration by activists.

    countable · uncountable
  23. The opportunity to act during a betting round.

    uncountable
    The action starts with the small blind.
  24. Heavy betting activity.

    broadly · slang · uncountable
    There was a lot of action on the flop; it was an action flop.
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂eǵ- Proto-Indo-European *-eti Proto-Indo-European *h₂éǵeti Proto-Italic *agō Latin agō Latin āctum Proto-Indo-European *-tis Proto-Indo-European *-Hō Proto-Indo-European *-tiHō Proto-Italic *-tiō Latin -tiō Latin āctiō Old French aucionbor. Middle English accioun English action From Middle English accioun, accion, from Old French aucion, acciun, from Latin āctiō(n) (“act of doing or making”), from āct(us) + action suffix -iō(n), perfect passive participle of agere (“do, act”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂éǵeti. See also act, active. By surface analysis, act + -ion.

intj/ˈækʃən̩/Received-Pronunciation[ˈækʃn̩]Received-Pronunciation/ˈakʃən̩/British, Northern-England, Scotland, Southern, Standard, Wales[ˈakʃn̩]British, Northern-England, Scotland, Southern, Standard, Wales
  1. Demanding or signifying the start of something, usually a performance.

    The director yelled ‘Action!’ after the cameras started rolling.
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂eǵ- Proto-Indo-European *-eti Proto-Indo-European *h₂éǵeti Proto-Italic *agō Latin agō Latin āctum Proto-Indo-European *-tis Proto-Indo-European *-Hō Proto-Indo-European *-tiHō Proto-Italic *-tiō Latin -tiō Latin āctiō Old French aucionbor. Middle English accioun English action From Middle English accioun, accion, from Old French aucion, acciun, from Latin āctiō(n) (“act of doing or making”), from āct(us) + action suffix -iō(n), perfect passive participle of agere (“do, act”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂éǵeti. See also act, active. By surface analysis, act + -ion.

adj/ˈækʃən̩/Received-Pronunciation[ˈækʃn̩]Received-Pronunciation/ˈakʃən̩/British, Northern-England, Scotland, Southern, Standard, Wales[ˈakʃn̩]British, Northern-England, Scotland, Southern, Standard, Wales
  1. arrogant

    Manglish
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂eǵ- Proto-Indo-European *-eti Proto-Indo-European *h₂éǵeti Proto-Italic *agō Latin agō Latin āctum Proto-Indo-European *-tis Proto-Indo-European *-Hō Proto-Indo-European *-tiHō Proto-Italic *-tiō Latin -tiō Latin āctiō Old French aucionbor. Middle English accioun English action From Middle English accioun, accion, from Old French aucion, acciun, from Latin āctiō(n) (“act of doing or making”), from āct(us) + action suffix -iō(n), perfect passive participle of agere (“do, act”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂éǵeti. See also act, active. By surface analysis, act + -ion.

verb/ˈækʃən̩/Received-Pronunciation[ˈækʃn̩]Received-Pronunciation/ˈakʃən̩/British, Northern-England, Scotland, Southern, Standard, Wales[ˈakʃn̩]British, Northern-England, Scotland, Southern, Standard, Wales
  1. To act on a request etc, in order to put it into effect.

    transitive
  2. To initiate a legal action against someone.

    archaic · transitive
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂eǵ- Proto-Indo-European *-eti Proto-Indo-European *h₂éǵeti Proto-Italic *agō Latin agō Latin āctum Proto-Indo-European *-tis Proto-Indo-European *-Hō Proto-Indo-European *-tiHō Proto-Italic *-tiō Latin -tiō Latin āctiō Old French aucionbor. Middle English accioun English action From Middle English accioun, accion, from Old French aucion, acciun, from Latin āctiō(n) (“act of doing or making”), from āct(us) + action suffix -iō(n), perfect passive participle of agere (“do, act”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂éǵeti. See also act, active. By surface analysis, act + -ion.

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Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.