What's the difference between act and pretend?

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.

Pretend


Definition:

  • (v. t.) To lay a claim to; to allege a title to; to claim.
  • (v. t.) To hold before, or put forward, as a cloak or disguise for something else; to exhibit as a veil for something hidden.
  • (v. t.) To hold out, or represent, falsely; to put forward, or offer, as true or real (something untrue or unreal); to show hypocritically, or for the purpose of deceiving; to simulate; to feign; as, to pretend friendship.
  • (v. t.) To intend; to design; to plot; to attempt.
  • (v. t.) To hold before one; to extend.
  • (v. i.) To put in, or make, a claim, truly or falsely; to allege a title; to lay claim to, or strive after, something; -- usually with to.
  • (v. i.) To hold out the appearance of being, possessing, or performing; to profess; to make believe; to feign; to sham; as, to pretend to be asleep.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) His anti-politics act may just be a shtick – pretending he's still on Have I Got News for You, satirising politics even though he's right at the centre of it – but it liberates him from the usual constraints.
  • (2) "Obviously [writers in translation] have a disadvantage and there's no sense pretending they don't, of being read in translation," said Gekoski.
  • (3) Tony Abbott pretended to support the renewable energy industry before the election but is now “launching a full-frontal attack” according to Labor’s environment spokesman Mark Butler.
  • (4) The Telegraph's secret taping of Cable and fellow Liberal Democrat ministers while pretending to be concerned constituents has raised eyebrows in some media quarters, but the newspaper has claimed a "clear public interest" defence for its actions.
  • (5) It is hard to tell who has really suffered, and who is only pretending.
  • (6) Respecting the frequency of invalidity this cancer pretends the second place among these diseases.
  • (7) When this parliament votes for another referendum as it inevitably will, thanks to the perpetual crutch that the Greens provide, let’s not pretend it reflects the will of the Scottish people, because it doesn’t.
  • (8) Non-doms could no longer pretend to live in Monaco while living in the UK for four working days a week.
  • (9) But equally, you’re ignoring how these people feel if you try and pretend they don’t feel their area is changing.
  • (10) Additionally, the Schmidt-Furlow investigators looked at instances where female interrogators had fondled prisoners, or pretended to splash menstrual blood upon them.
  • (11) Stewart Lee with a mask made of meat, pretending to be Canadian?
  • (12) Yes, there are other reasons why a boy might take a clock out of its casing & pretend he’d made it.
  • (13) It would be idle to pretend that Cameron doesn't have talents as a leader.
  • (14) Their leaders are charging round the country pretending they are going to get an overall majority, but in their heart of hearts they know it is not true, you can see it in their eyes.” The deputy prime minister, whose party has been in coalition with the Conservatives since 2010, said the next question for the public was “that since neither David Cameron or Ed Miliband are going to walk into Downing Street on their own, who is it the voters want at their side”.
  • (15) By pretending to ignore the scientific evidence, AquaBounty is doing readers a disservice.
  • (16) Pro-Europeans don't do themselves any favours by trying to pretend that it didn't happen.
  • (17) Indeed watching the prime minister singling out unemployed youngsters for uniquely punitive measures while pretending it is for their own good, cheered on by a gang of braying chums, it looks less like the behaviour of a national statesman and more like the petty vindictiveness of a schoolyard bully.
  • (18) And he must not pretend to be ignorant of the consequences of continuing to burn coal or take refuge in a "carbon cap" or some "target" for future emission reductions.
  • (19) During the collection of a one-hour spontaneous language sample from each child the experimenter pretended 20 times not to understand and asked, "What?"
  • (20) He would go around the communities and pretend to have a conversation with people but really his eyes were on the children playing," she says.