action verb

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. Compare copula ( def 2 ), stative.

Word History and Origins

Origin of action verb¹

First recorded in 1875–80