conduct

[ noun kon-duhkt; verb kuhn-duhkt ]

/ noun ˈkɒn dʌkt; verb kənˈdʌkt /

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See synonyms for: conduct / conducted / conducting on Thesaurus.com

noun

personal behavior; way of acting; bearing or deportment.

direction or management; administration: the conduct of a business.

the act of conducting; guidance: The curator's conduct through the museum was informative.

Obsolete. a guide; an escort.

verb (used with object)

to behave or manage (oneself): He conducted himself well.

to direct in action or course; manage; carry on: to conduct a meeting; to conduct a test.

to direct (an orchestra, chorus, etc.) as leader.

to lead or guide; escort: to conduct a tour.

to serve as a channel or medium for (heat, electricity, sound, etc.): Copper conducts electricity.

verb (used without object)

to lead.

to act as conductor, or leader of a musical group, by communicating to the performers by motions of a baton or the hands his or her interpretation of the music.

SYNONYMS FOR conduct

1 demeanor, comportment, actions, actions.

2 guidance, government.

5 deport, bear.

6 supervise, administer.

See synonyms for conduct on Thesaurus.com

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Origin of conduct

1250–1300; late Middle English <Medieval Latin conductus escort, noun use of Latin conductus (past participle of condūcere to conduce), equivalent to con-con- + duc- lead + -tus past participle suffix; replacing Middle English conduyt(e) <Anglo-French <Latin as above; see conduit

synonym study for conduct

1. See behavior.

OTHER WORDS FROM conduct

con·duct·i·ble, adjectivecon·duct·i·bil·i·ty, nounnon·con·duc·ti·bil·i·ty, nounnon·con·duc·ti·ble, adjective

pre·con·duct, verb (used with object)re·con·duct, verb (used with object)un·con·duct·ed, adjectiveun·con·duct·i·ble, adjectivewell-con·duct·ed, adjective

Words nearby conduct

condor, Condorcet, condottiere, conduce, conducive, conduct, conductance, conduct disorder, conductimetry, conducting tissue, conductiometric titration

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021

WHEN TO USE

What are other ways to say conduct?

To conduct oneself is to behave or manage oneself. To conduct a tour is to lead or guide it. How does conduct compare to synonyms guide, direct, and lead? Find out on Thesaurus.com.

Example sentences from the Web for conduct

My administration will continue to insist upon professional conduct from all our employees, regardless of their position in state government.
Alaska’s Attorney General Resigns Hours After We Published “Uncomfortable” Texts He Sent to a Younger Colleague|by Kyle Hopkins, Anchorage Daily News|August 25, 2020|ProPublica
Kondrat said Glossier’s decision to create a code of conduct for customers is also a move that other retail startups should consider emulating.
By being too customer-obsessed, DTC startups are failing their retail employees|Anna Hensel|August 21, 2020|Digiday
Irrational aspects of human behavior—chauvinistic nationalism and racial intolerance—keep us locked in patterns of conduct highly dangerous in the nuclear age, and dangerous in relation to other changes brought about by science.
From the archives: Technology and power|Katie McLean|August 19, 2020|MIT Technology Review
To many untrained observers there clearly seemed to be wrongful conduct on the part one or both of the companies.
Genius not looking so smart after Google escapes liability for ‘misappropriating’ lyrics|Greg Sterling|August 11, 2020|Search Engine Land

In 2018, an appellate court concluded that the city attorney’s office had broken the State Bar’s rules of professional conduct by breaching a suspect’s right to attorney-client privilege.
Morning Report: SDPD Has Ticketed Dozens for ‘Seditious Language’|Voice of San Diego|August 3, 2020|Voice of San Diego
There is, however, a separate wing of AQAP designed to inspire their followers to conduct attacks against the West.
U.S. Spies See Al Qaeda Fingerprints on Paris Massacre|Shane Harris, Nancy A. Youssef|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Together, they crossed over the International Bridges on foot into Juarez to conduct some business.
An Informant, a Missing American, and Juarez’s House of Death: Inside the 12-Year Cold Case of David Castro|Bill Conroy|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Before his writing days, London used the Oakland establishment to conduct his studies.
The Bars That Made America Great|Nina Strochlic|December 28, 2014|DAILY BEAST
By drawing boundaries against wrongful conduct, law provides a protective zone of freedom within those boundaries.
Red Tape Is Strangling Good Samaritans|Philip K. Howard|December 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Were they innocent victims or did they conduct themselves in a manner that would naturally lead to their demise?
The Post-Brown and Garner Question: Who ‘Deserves’ to Die?|Goldie Taylor|December 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The watchword of conduct that will clear up all our difficulties is, the plain truth.
The Salvaging Of Civilisation|H. G. (Herbert George) Wells
Here was a return for his frankness—his straightforward conduct—his unequalled liberality.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. CCCXXXIX. January, 1844. Vol. LV.|Various
And there is much in the common experience of life and the common conduct of business that seems to support this view.
The Unsolved Riddle of Social Justice|Stephen Leacock
As against the pain she inflicted, he had been generous, long-suffering— therefore his conduct was 'beautiful and precious.'
The Wave|Algernon Blackwood
Be this as it may, his conduct during the campaign justified the suspicion with which he was regarded by friend and foe.
Napoleon's Marshals|R. P. Dunn-Pattison

British Dictionary definitions for conduct

conduct

noun (ˈkɒndʌkt)

the manner in which a person behaves; behaviour

the way of managing a business, affair, etc; handling

rare the act of guiding or leading

rare a guide or leader

verb (kənˈdʌkt)

(tr) to accompany and guide (people, a party, etc) (esp in the phrase conducted tour)

(tr) to lead or direct (affairs, business, etc); control

(tr) to do or carry outconduct a survey

(tr) to behave or manage (oneself)the child conducted himself well

to control or guide (an orchestra, choir, etc) by the movements of the hands or a batonAlso (esp US): direct

to transmit (heat, electricity, etc)metals conduct heat

Derived forms of conduct

conductible, adjectiveconductibility, noun

Word Origin for conduct

C15: from Medieval Latin conductus escorted, from Latin: drawn together, from condūcere to conduce

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Medical definitions for conduct

conduct

[ kən-dŭkt′ ]

v.

To act as a medium for conveying something such as heat or electricity.

n.

The way a person acts, especially from the standpoint of morality.

Other words from conduct

con•duc′tive adj.

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