behave
to act in a particular way; conduct or comport oneself or itself: The ship behaves well.
to act properly: Did the child behave?
to act or react under given circumstances: This plastic behaves strangely under extreme heat or cold.
to conduct or comport (oneself) in a proper manner: Sit quietly and behave yourself.
Origin of behave
1Other words for behave
1 | perform, acquit oneself, deport oneself |
Other words from behave
- un·be·hav·ing, adjective
- well-be·haved, adjective
Words Nearby behave
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use behave in a sentence
For instance, it might nudge your brain to think or behave in certain ways.
People are concerned about tech tinkering with our minds | Laura Sanders | February 11, 2021 | Science News For StudentsTechnology that can change your brain — nudge it to think or behave in certain ways — is especially worrisome to many of our readers.
Can privacy coexist with technology that reads and changes brain activity? | Laura Sanders | February 11, 2021 | Science NewsOne public health official said, “If the country had behaved like the state of Vermont, we would have 200,000 fewer deaths.”
“We did the worst job in the world”: Lawrence Wright on America’s botched Covid-19 response | Sean Illing | February 9, 2021 | VoxWith Maria’s help, he finds they need to learn to act like kids rather than learn how to behave as grown ups.
Christopher Plummer’s Captain von Trapp is the father I want to be | Bill McQuillen | February 8, 2021 | Washington PostFrom there, it gathers insights around how those audiences behave and buys ads against them to see how well they perform.
‘There’s a degree of assumption’: Subway tests addressable media plans using non-addressable data | Seb Joseph | February 5, 2021 | Digiday
Now, a new observation seems to show that black holes also behave according to their place in the cosmic web.
And given how they behave at moments like this, you can see why that is.
Will 5 Million Undocumented Immigrants Take Obama's Tough Love Immigration Deal? | Ruben Navarrette Jr. | November 21, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThese roles include the whole moral structure of society—how you are to behave; what kind of clothing you are to wear.
So, if his father was like that, and Cumming shares his voracious sexual appetite, how does he behave differently?
No one has to know you have a bunch of dough, and you can behave any way you want.
Bill Murray’s Words of Wisdom: On Comedy, the Greatness of In-N-Out, and Searching For Great Love | Marlow Stern | October 10, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTDo not take a child with you to pay calls, until it is old enough to behave quietly and with propriety.
The Ladies' Book of Etiquette, and Manual of Politeness | Florence HartleyBut Jake shook her up, and told her to behave, as it was a 'Piscopal funeral and not a pra'r meetin'.
The Cromptons | Mary J. HolmesShe would never tell, no, not even Tessa; but how could she behave towards him as if she did not know?
Tessa Wadsworth's Discipline | Jennie M. DrinkwaterThis time I had my ankus with me, so that in case he should run away again I could prick his neck and make him behave.
Kari the Elephant | Dhan Gopal MukerjiThe wise man, when the waves smile, ought to know how to behave; in the breakers he must go slow.
Frdric Mistral | Charles Alfred Downer
British Dictionary definitions for behave
/ (bɪˈheɪv) /
(intr) to act or function in a specified or usual way
to conduct (oneself) in a specified way: he behaved badly towards her
to conduct (oneself) properly or as desired: the child behaved himself all day
Origin of behave
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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