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.

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interact British  

/ ˌɪntərˈækt /

verb

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

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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

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Etymology

Origin of interact

First recorded in 1740–50; inter- + act

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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

Scientists are using iISM to investigate how a cancer drug enters a cell, potentially providing valuable information about how medications interact with their targets.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 17, 2026

By watching these organisms interact in real time, researchers hope to gain a clearer understanding of the complex relationships between plants and microbes.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 17, 2026

Character.ai, which lets users interact with AI avatars that include fictional characters and real public figures, had come under scrutiny for the platform’s effects on teen mental health.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026

The Menlo Park-based company runs an app that allows people to create and interact with chatbots who mimic celebrities, historical figures or other virtual characters.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026

You had to be in the past, but not interfere or interact with it in even the tiniest, most inconsequential way.

From "Glitch" by Laura Martin

Also important on “Hyena” is how the rhythm section interacts.

From Salon ● Oct. 7, 2026

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

The next category is the electromagnetic force, which interacts with electrically charged particles like electrons and quarks, but not with uncharged particles such as gravitons.

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

In the experiment, the team moved the calcium ion through different parts of a tightly focused laser beam and measured how strongly it interacted with the light at each position.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 13, 2026

“I should think so. Let’s give this a few days. Check in with me on Friday after you’ve interacted a bit. We can make any necessary adjustments after that.”

From "Merci Suárez Changes Gears" by Meg Medina

"They were exploring their new habitat, coming over and participating in sessions, eating and interacting with enrichment. So those were all really positive signs from the get-go, and we've just seen progress since then."

From BBC ● Oct. 17, 2026

And when you are online, which is unavoidable for many of us, try to remember that you are probably interacting with fewer humans than you might think.

From Salon ● Oct. 15, 2026

According to Anthropic's account, as relayed by police, the model was running a test that involved interacting with randomly selected websites when it reached the site and filed false information about an unsolved murder.

From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026

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

A white lie; it would be easier on her if she thought I’d be interacting mostly with women.

From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu

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Related Words

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