interact
Americanverb (used without object)
-
interacts,
present (3rd person singular)
-
interacted,
past participle, past
-
interacting
present participle
-
to act one upon another.
A person's microbiome and immune system may interact in ways that promote inflammation.
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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.
verb
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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interactsimple
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interactssimple
-
have interactedperfect
-
has interactedperfect
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am interactingprogressive
-
are interactingprogressive
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is interactingprogressive
-
have been interactingperfect progressive
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has been interactingperfect progressive
Past
-
interactedsimple
-
had interactedperfect
-
was interactingprogressive
-
were interactingprogressive
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had been interactingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of interact
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.
Vocabulary lists containing interact
Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
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Ecology - Introductory
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Ecology - Middle School
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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.
See Examples For:
The researchers identified another striking difference in how the two planets interact with the solar wind.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 29, 2026
“How people interact with what’s in front of them often becomes part of the conversation,” she says.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 29, 2026
They also introduce a possible new factor in volcanic degassing, the process through which gases and other volatile substances escape from molten rock and interact with a planet's atmosphere.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 29, 2026
Oracle says it has created a single entry point for all of its applications on ChatGPT, a new twist in the way that users can interact with software.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 28, 2026
“Sometimes it is best not to interact with Poseidon’s brood,” Aphros said.
From "The Mark of Athena" by Rick Riordan
As the Captain, Laveaux is what’s known as an “icon” character, someone who interacts with the public and is directly related to a Dark Harbor story line.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 26, 2026
The researchers discovered that MTCH2 physically interacts with CPT1 and influences how strongly this regulatory signal affects the enzyme.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 24, 2026
It is even possible that some snow could fall over the mountains, above 600m elevation, as cold air interacts with the wet weather.
From BBC ● Oct. 21, 2026
When a radio frequency generator sends a signal into the capacitor, the resulting electromagnetic field interacts with the plasma filament.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 9, 2026
I studied the floor and mumbled, “The analysis of how something about the census something interacts with the something and pertains to something.”
From "Liar, Liar" by Gary Paulsen
“I was told that there was a breach of trust because I interacted with a third party through unsanctioned channels,” said Tomek Korbak, one of the fired researchers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2026
Preliminary findings indicate no person was present or interacted with the wreck before it caught fire, police said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 19, 2026
White House spokesperson Lauren Bis said the Millers had never met or interacted with Burgwald or Rae.
From Salon ● Sep. 27, 2026
This combination of activities "may have interacted to amplify the compound event," the study said.
From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026
I’d never interacted with this side of campus in the morning, never saw these kids or spoke to them.
From "A Very Large Expanse of Sea" by Tahereh Mafi
These artificial organisms could behave in unpredictable ways when interacting with Earth's ecosystems and might evade certain natural defenses that protect people, animals, and plants.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 24, 2026
"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
Guitarrica vividly recalls interacting with Almodóvar that day.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 15, 2026
On the surface, it seems like harmless video game humor, and I’m sure we’ve all had encounters with actual humans that resembled interacting with tautological machines programmed with limited responses.
From Salon ● Oct. 12, 2026
“I am not interacting with the surroundings as directly as you are,” Marco continues.
From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
