ACTION VERB Definition & Meaning

action verb

noun

Grammar.

a verb, as run, think, or soothe, that expresses something that a person, animal, object, or process in nature can do, as in Close the door! or The storm is flooding many houses along the coast, rather than expressing a state of being. Compare copula ( def 2 ), stative.

Discover More

51�Թ� History and Origins

Origin of action verb¹

First recorded in 1875–80

Discover More

Compare Meanings

How does action verb compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

Discover More

Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

Despite the action verb in the book title, this brother and sister are fascinatingly, and often frustratingly, inert.

From

And Christiana Figueres, the former U.N. climate secretary who helped forge the 2015 Paris agreement and then started a non-profit called Climate Optimism, sees hope not as a noun but an action verb.

From

“WarioWare” games are Nintendo at its most wacky: 10 seconds, one action verb as a directive and then go!

From

“I thought about that word, ‘be,’ and how ‘be’ is not only a linking verb, it’s an action verb,” he said.

From

Can we please stop using the word “rips” as an action verb to describe President Trump’s infantile tweets?

From

Browse