intransitive

[ in-tran-si-tiv ]

/ ɪnˈtræn sɪ tɪv /

Grammar

adjective

noting or having the quality of an intransitive verb.

noun

intransitive verb.

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Origin of intransitive

From the Latin word intrānsitīvus, dating back to 1605–15. See in-³, transitive

OTHER WORDS FROM intransitive

in·tran·si·tive·ly, adverbin·tran·si·tive·ness, noun

Words nearby intransitive

intranational, intranet, intrans., intransigence, intransigent, intransitive, intransitive verb, intrant, intranuclear, intraocular, intraocular lens

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Example sentences from the Web for intransitive

The combination with the participle of an intransitive verb,—I have waited; thou hast hungered; he has slept.
A Handbook of the English Language|Robert Gordon Latham
Use of intransitive for transitive verbs, as "he was graduated from college," or vice versa, as "he ingratiated with the tyrant."
Writings in the United Amateur, 1915-1922|Howard Phillips Lovecraft
A verb is intransitive when it has no object; as, "The waters came upon me;" "I am he who was, and is, and is to come."
English Grammar in Familiar Lectures|Samuel Kirkham
If the verb is intransitive, and denotes a change of condition, a departure or arrival, bon (wesan) usually replaces habban.
Anglo-Saxon Grammar and Exercise Book|C. Alphonso Smith

Sit is an intransitive verb, or one which has no object after it.
Every-Day Errors of Speech|L. P. Meredith

British Dictionary definitions for intransitive

intransitive

/ (ɪnˈtrænsɪtɪv) /

adjective

denoting a verb when it does not require a direct object
denoting a verb that customarily does not require a direct object"to faint" is an intransitive verb
(as noun) a verb in either of these categories

denoting an adjective or noun that does not require any particular noun phrase as a referent

logic maths (of a relation) having the property that if it holds between one argument and a second, and between the second and a third, it must fail to hold between the first and the third"being the mother of" is an intransitive relation

Compare transitive, pseudo-intransitive

Derived forms of intransitive

intransitively, adverbintransitivity or intransitiveness, noun

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