What's the difference between act and action?

Act


Definition:

  • (n.) That which is done or doing; the exercise of power, or the effect, of which power exerted is the cause; a performance; a deed.
  • (n.) The result of public deliberation; the decision or determination of a legislative body, council, court of justice, etc.; a decree, edit, law, judgment, resolve, award; as, an act of Parliament, or of Congress.
  • (n.) A formal solemn writing, expressing that something has been done.
  • (n.) A performance of part of a play; one of the principal divisions of a play or dramatic work in which a certain definite part of the action is completed.
  • (n.) A thesis maintained in public, in some English universities, by a candidate for a degree, or to show the proficiency of a student.
  • (n.) A state of reality or real existence as opposed to a possibility or possible existence.
  • (n.) Process of doing; action. In act, in the very doing; on the point of (doing).
  • (v. t.) To move to action; to actuate; to animate.
  • (v. t.) To perform; to execute; to do.
  • (v. t.) To perform, as an actor; to represent dramatically on the stage.
  • (v. t.) To assume the office or character of; to play; to personate; as, to act the hero.
  • (v. t.) To feign or counterfeit; to simulate.
  • (v. i.) To exert power; to produce an effect; as, the stomach acts upon food.
  • (v. i.) To perform actions; to fulfill functions; to put forth energy; to move, as opposed to remaining at rest; to carry into effect a determination of the will.
  • (v. i.) To behave or conduct, as in morals, private duties, or public offices; to bear or deport one's self; as, we know not why he has acted so.
  • (v. i.) To perform on the stage; to represent a character.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) The high amino acid levels in the cells suggest that these cells act as inter-organ transporters and reservoirs of amino acids, they have a different role in their handling and metabolism from those of mammals.
  • (2) Although Jeggo's Chinese hamster ovary cells were more responsive to mAMSA, novo still abrogated mAMSA toxicity in the mutant cells as well as in the parental Chinese hamster ovary cells 2,4-Dinitrophenol acted similarly to novo with respect to mAMSA killing, but neither compound reduced the ATP content of V79 cells.
  • (3) administration of the potent short-acting opioid, fentanyl, elicited inhibition of rhythmic spontaneous reflex increases in vesical pressure (VP) evoked by urinary bladder distension.
  • (4) Family therapists have attempted to convert the acting-out behavioral disorders into an effective state, i.e., make the family aware of their feelings of deprivation by focusing on the aggressive component.
  • (5) It is suggested that the rapid phase is due to clearance of peptides in the circulation which results in a fall to lower blood concentrations which are sustained by slow release of peptide from binding sites which act as a depot.
  • (6) Peptides from this region bind to actin, act as mixed inhibitors of the actin-stimulated S1 Mg2(+)-ATPase, and influence the contractile force developed in skinned fibres, whereas peptides flanking this sequence are without effect in our test systems.
  • (7) Comprehensive regulations are being developed to limit human exposure to contamination in drinking water by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the authority of the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA).
  • (8) Pedigree studies have suggested that there may be an inherited predisposition to many apparently nonfamilial colorectal cancers and a genetic model of tumorigenesis in common colorectal cancer has been proposed that includes the activation of dominantly acting oncogenes and the inactivation of growth suppressor genes.
  • (9) Propofol is ideal for short periods of care on the ICU, and during weaning when longer acting agents are being eliminated.
  • (10) We have investigated interactions between the erythroid transcription factor GATA-1 and factors binding two cis-acting elements commonly linked to GATA sites in erythroid control elements.
  • (11) These later results suggest that dopamine agonists increase sensorimotor reactivity measured with acoustic startle by acting on sensory rather than motor parts of the reflex arc.
  • (12) Dietary factors affect intestinal P450s markedly--iron restriction rapidly decreased intestinal P450 to beneath detectable values; selenium deficiency acted similarly but was less effective; Brussels sprouts increased intestinal AHH activity 9.8-fold, ECOD activity 3.2-fold, and P450 1.9-fold; fried meat and dietary fat significantly increased intestinal EROD activity; a vitamin A-deficient diet increased, and a vitamin A-rich diet decreased intestinal P450 activities; and excess cholesterol in the diet increased intestinal P450 activity.
  • (13) It was not clear whether Mn2+ acted at the presynaptic membrane, the postsynaptic membrane or both.
  • (14) She added: “We will continue to act upon the overwhelming majority view of our shareholders.” The vote was the second year running Ryanair had suffered a rebellion on pay.
  • (15) In this paper sensitive and selective bioassays are described for growth factors acting on substrate-attached cells, in particular members of the epidermal growth factor, transforming growth factor beta, platelet-derived growth factor, insulin-like growth factor, and heparin-binding growth factor families.
  • (16) Evidence is presented that the protein can act catalytically.
  • (17) It was concluded that Ta acts as a weak zeitgeber in laboratory rats and has greater effects on males compared to females.
  • (18) That’s a criticism echoed by Democrats in the Senate, who issued a report earlier this month criticising Republicans for passing sweeping legislation in July to combat addiction , the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (Cara), but refusing to fund it.
  • (19) Tumorigenesis is a multistep process involving mutations of dominantly acting proto-oncogenes and mutations and loss-of-function mutations of tumor suppressor genes.
  • (20) In one of Pruitt’s first official acts, for example, he overruled the recommendation of his own agency’s scientists, based on years of meticulous research, to ban a pesticide shown to cause nerve damage, one that poses a clear risk to children, farmworkers and rural drinking water supplies.

Action


Definition:

  • (n.) A process or condition of acting or moving, as opposed to rest; the doing of something; exertion of power or force, as when one body acts on another; the effect of power exerted on one body by another; agency; activity; operation; as, the action of heat; a man of action.
  • (n.) An act; a thing done; a deed; an enterprise. (pl.): Habitual deeds; hence, conduct; behavior; demeanor.
  • (n.) The event or connected series of events, either real or imaginary, forming the subject of a play, poem, or other composition; the unfolding of the drama of events.
  • (n.) Movement; as, the horse has a spirited action.
  • (n.) Effective motion; also, mechanism; as, the breech action of a gun.
  • (n.) Any one of the active processes going on in an organism; the performance of a function; as, the action of the heart, the muscles, or the gastric juice.
  • (n.) Gesticulation; the external deportment of the speaker, or the suiting of his attitude, voice, gestures, and countenance, to the subject, or to the feelings.
  • (n.) The attitude or position of the several parts of the body as expressive of the sentiment or passion depicted.
  • (n.) A suit or process, by which a demand is made of a right in a court of justice; in a broad sense, a judicial proceeding for the enforcement or protection of a right, the redress or prevention of a wrong, or the punishment of a public offense.
  • (n.) A right of action; as, the law gives an action for every claim.
  • (n.) A share in the capital stock of a joint-stock company, or in the public funds; hence, in the plural, equivalent to stocks.
  • (n.) An engagement between troops in war, whether on land or water; a battle; a fight; as, a general action, a partial action.
  • (n.) The mechanical contrivance by means of which the impulse of the player's finger is transmitted to the strings of a pianoforte or to the valve of an organ pipe.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) Power urges the security council to "take the kind of credible, binding action warranted."
  • (2) The subcellular distribution of sialyltransferase and its product of action, sialic acid, was investigated in the undifferentiated cells of the rat intestinal crypts and compared with the pattern observed in the differentiated cells present in the surface epithelium.
  • (3) Consensual but rationally weak criteria devised to extract inferences of causality from such results confirm the generic inadequacy of epidemiology in this area, and are unable to provide definitive scientific support to the perceived mandate for public health action.
  • (4) The following is a brief review of the history, mechanism of action, and potential adverse effects of neuromuscular blockers.
  • (5) However, the mechanism of the inhibitory action is still somewhat uncertain.
  • (6) "What has made that worse is the disingenuous way the force has defended their actions.
  • (7) As prolongation of the action potential by TEA facilitates preferentially the hormone release evoked by low (ineffective) frequencies, it is suggested that a frequency-dependent broadening of action potentials which reportedly occurs on neurosecretory neurones may play an important role in the frequency-dependent facilitation of hormone release from the rat neurohypophysis.
  • (8) This was unlike the action of the calcium channel blocker, cadmium, which reduced the calcium action potential and the a.h.p.
  • (9) An initial complex-soma inflection was observed on the rising phase of the action potential of some cells.
  • (10) Most thyroid hormone actions, however, appear in the perinatal period, and infants with thyroid agenesis appear normal at birth and develop normally with prompt neonatal diagnosis and treatment.
  • (11) We are pursuing legal action because there are still so many unanswered questions about the viability of Shenhua’s proposed koala plan and it seems at this point the plan does not guarantee the survival of the estimated 262 koalas currently living where Shenhua wants to put its mine,” said Ranclaud.
  • (12) The evidence suggests that by the age of 15 years many adolescents show a reliable level of competence in metacognitive understanding of decision-making, creative problem-solving, correctness of choice, and commitment to a course of action.
  • (13) The blockade of H2 receptors is the primary action of these drugs; however, they possess also secondary actions which may represent untoward effects but in some cases may be actually useful (increase in prostaglandin synthesis, inhibition of LTB4 synthesis, etc.)
  • (14) It is concluded that in the mouse model the ability of buspirone to reduce the aversive response to a brightly illuminated area may reflect an anxiolytic action, that the dorsal raphe nucleus may be an important locus of action, and that the effects of buspirone may reflect an interaction at 5-hydroxytryptamine receptors.
  • (15) The macrophage-derived product, interleukin 1 (IL 1) is thought to play an important regulatory role in the proliferation of T lymphocytes; however, its mechanism of action is unknown.
  • (16) If there is a will to use primary Care centres for effective preventive action in the population as a whole, motivation of the professionals involved and organisational changes will be necessary so as not to perpetuate the law of inverse care.
  • (17) In oleate-labeled particles, besides phosphatidic acid the product of PLD action radioactivity was also detected in diglyceride as a result of resident phosphatidate phosphohydrolase, which hydrolyzed the phosphatidic acid.
  • (18) Selective removal of endothelium had no effect on BK-induced contraction or the action of the antagonists.
  • (19) When irradiated circular DNA, previously nicked by T4 endonuclease V, is briefly exposed to elevated temperature, the DAN becomes susceptible to the action of exonuclease V, and pyrimidine dimers are selectively released.
  • (20) The reproducibility of the killing-curve method suggests that at least two different concentrations should be used and that a decrease in viable counts below 2 log10 after 24 hours does not exclude a synergistic action.