interact

American  

[in-ter-akt] / ˌɪn tərˈækt /

verb (used without object)

• interacts,
  present (3rd person singular)
• interacted,
  past participle,  past
• interacting
  present participle

1. to act one upon another.

   A person's microbiome and immune system may interact in ways that promote inflammation.

2. to communicate, work, or participate in an activity with someone or something: a user interacting with a computer program.

   a boss who seldom interacts with employees;

   a user interacting with a computer program.

---

interact British  

/ ˌɪntərˈækt /

verb

1. (intr) to act on or in close relation with each other

---

Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

Participles

• interacting
  present
• interacted
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• interact
  simple
• interacts
  simple
• have interacted
  perfect
• has interacted
  perfect
• am interacting
  progressive
• are interacting
  progressive
• is interacting
  progressive
• have been interacting
  perfect progressive
• has been interacting
  perfect progressive

Past

• interacted
  simple
• had interacted
  perfect
• was interacting
  progressive
• were interacting
  progressive
• had been interacting
  perfect progressive

Future

• will interact
  simple
• will have interacted
  perfect
• will be interacting
  progressive
• will have been interacting
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of interact

First recorded in 1740–50; inter- + act

Explanation

Talking, dancing, playing a game — all of these activities allow you to interact with other people. To interact means to communicate and react to the people you're involved with. Some video games are called interactive because they are not static, like board games, but allow players to interact with them and direct the story. If you are talking about chemicals or medicines that interact, the presence of one affects the way the other works. If someone says that you interact well with children, it means you communicate well with them and they respond to you.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

interact interacts interacted interacting

The 82-year-old is the brains behind the IceCube Neutrino Observatory, a telescope embedded in a cubic kilometer of Antarctic ice that detects neutrinos -- particles with almost no mass that seldom interact with other matter.

From Barron's ● Oct. 6, 2026

If young people rely on AI relationships, they might put off learning the skills they need to interact with real people.

From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2026

Nvidia said the platform included a watchdog that can quarantine agents that attempt to move outside their boundaries in milliseconds, as well as software to enforce what agents can see, do, and interact with.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 2026

"If they let their people interact with the outside world, they are highly likely to be overthrown, and maybe killed or driven into exile," he added.

From Barron's ● Sep. 28, 2026

“Sometimes it is best not to interact with Poseidon’s brood,” Aphros said.

From "The Mark of Athena" by Rick Riordan

At the observatory, most neutrinos pass straight through the ice, but occasionally one interacts with it, producing particles that give off a telltale flash of light.

From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026

Finally: Survivors should have meaningful choices about who interacts with them during an investigation.

From Slate ● Oct. 2, 2026

I asked Ben how the almost-premium strategy interacts with the outside brands that provide its perks.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026

And the progress that Martin made, we see him maybe take a few steps back in the way that he interacts with people.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2026

It is believed that this force is carried by another spin-1 particle, called the gluon, which interacts only with itself and with the quarks.

From "A Brief History of Time: And Other Essays" by Stephen Hawking

White House spokesperson Lauren Bis said the Millers had never met or interacted with Burgwald or Rae.

From Salon ● Sep. 27, 2026

Sen. Steve Daines, a Republican from Montana who was at the dinner, said he interacted with both senior U.S. and Chinese officials, including Xi, at the event.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026

Researchers watching young children’s brain activity as they interacted with ChatGPT saw less engagement in regions associated with attention and information processing than they did in adults doing the same task.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 14, 2026

Willis explained the audition process, saying they had to do a "chemistry test" to see how they interacted as a group.

From BBC ● Sep. 10, 2026

Five fundamental changes thus interacted and interlocked in the course of the seventeenth century to produce modern science.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

Instead, the researchers wanted participants to become more comfortable interacting with the healthcare system and more capable of managing their own care.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 6, 2026

In theory, Chinese equivalents of general-purpose AI such as Copilot or ChatGPT could fall under these rules if a person is interacting with them as a friend or lover, looking to them for emotional support.

From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2026

Instead, she may be interacting with her own instances of patient-zero-dom.

From Slate ● Sep. 23, 2026

I’m interacting with people, I’m hearing the laughter, I’m hearing the music.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2026

It’s one thing to be love-worthy when you are interacting with your boyfriend; it’s quite another when you act the same way with a girl you don’t know.

From "Every Day" by David Levithan

Related Words

• collaborate
• combine
• connect
• cooperate
• merge
• mesh
• reach out
• relate