action verb

American  

noun

Grammar.

1. 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.

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Etymology

Origin of action verb

First recorded in 1875–80

Compare meaning

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

• action verb vs. linking verb

Example Sentences

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

From New York Times

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 Seattle Times

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

From Los Angeles Times

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

From New York Times

This discovery changed the way I thought of gratitude; transforming it from a passive feeling to an action verb.

From Seattle Times