exercise, excitation; movement, operation, evolution, work; labor &c
(exertion) 686; praxis, execution; procedure &c (conduct) 692;
handicraft; business &c 625; agency &c (power at work) 170.
deed, act, overt act, stitch, touch, gest transaction†, job,
doings, dealings, proceeding, measure, step, maneuver, bout, passage,
move, stroke, blow; coup, coup de main, coup d'etat [Fr.]; tour de
force &c (display) 882; feat, exploit; achievement &c (completion) 729;
handiwork, workmanship; manufacture; stroke of policy &c (plan) 626.
actor &c (doer) 690.
V. do, perform, execute; achieve &c (complete) 729; transact, enact;
commit, perpetrate, inflict; exercise, prosecute, carry on, work,
practice, play.
employ oneself, ply one's task; officiate, have in hand &c
(business) 625; labor &c 686; be at work; pursue a course; shape one's
course &c (conduct) 692.
act, operate; take action, take steps; strike a blow, lift a
finger, stretch forth one's hand; take in hand &c (undertake) 676; put
oneself in motion; put in practice; carry into execution &c (complete)
729; act upon.
be an actor &c 690; take a part in, act a part in, play a part in,
perform a part in; participate in; have a hand in, have a finger in the
pie; have to do with; be a party to, be a participator in; bear a hand,
lend a hand; pull an oar, run in a race; mix oneself up with &c
(meddle) 682.
be in action; come into operation &c (power at work) 170.
Adj. doing &c v.; acting; in action; in harness; on duty; in operation
&c 170.
Adv. in the act, in the midst of, in the thick of; red-handed, in
flagrante delicto [Lat.]; while one's hand is in.
Phr. action is eloquence [Coriolanus]; actions speak louder than words;
actum aiunt ne agas [Terence]; awake, arise, or be forever fall'n
[Paradise Lost]; dii pia facta vident [Lat.] [Ovid]; faire sans dire
[Fr.]; fare fac [It]; fronte capillata post est occasio calva [Lat.];
our deeds are sometimes better than our thoughts [Bailey]; the great
end of life is not knowledge but action [Huxley]; thought is the soul
of act [R.
Browning]; vivre-ce nest pas respirer c'est agir [Fr.]; we live in
deeds not years [Bailey].