behave
Americanverb (used without object)
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to act in a particular way; conduct or comport oneself or itself.
The ship behaves well.
- Synonyms:
- perform
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to act properly.
Did the child behave?
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to act or react under given circumstances.
This plastic behaves strangely under extreme heat or cold.
verb (used with object)
verb
-
(intr) to act or function in a specified or usual way
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to conduct (oneself) in a specified way
he behaved badly towards her
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to conduct (oneself) properly or as desired
the child behaved himself all day
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of behave
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English behaven “to behave oneself”; equivalent to be- + have
Explanation
The way you act or conduct yourself is how you behave. Teachers and parents often tell kids Behave! If you follow rules and get along with others, you behave well, while if you are nasty and rude, you behave badly. Behave can suggest acting in a polite manner, as when you tell a child (or an adult) to behave in public. We usually behave differently in different situations — like when no one is watching. If you tell someone "practice what you preach" you are pointing out that the way they behave doesn't quite match up to their words.
Vocabulary lists containing behave
Sula
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"Not-So-Starry Nights: Light Pollution Turns Night into Day"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"Once you're being paid by the public purse to represent them, you've got a duty to behave in a certain way," Kenyon said.
From BBC • Jun. 2, 2026
Musk has said Tesla is exercising caution in its robotaxi rollout after finding issues with how the vehicles behave on the roads.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 30, 2026
Some of the most powerful people on Earth still behave like they’re stuck in that headspace.
From Los Angeles Times • May 28, 2026
The findings suggest the way that specific sub-atomic particles behave in the LHC disagrees with the Standard Model.
From Science Daily • May 26, 2026
But Morgan’s fruit fly genes did not always behave independently.
From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
