reactv.1
/rɪˈakt/, U.S. /riˈæk(t)/ 1. † a. transitive. To act on (something) in turn; to drive back, reflect, deflect. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > change of direction of movement > change direction of movement of [verb (transitive)] > cause to deviate from course
charec1000
wrencha1200
turnc1275
to turn againc1330
swerve1390
wrya1400
reflectc1425
traverse1438
to turn aside1535
deduce1541
divert1548
to turn off1573
wrig1582
react1599
deflect1615
slent1639
decline1646
deviate1660
to wind off1677
sway1678
warp1814
switch1861
baffle1883
1599 H. Buttes Dyets Dry Dinner Ep. Ded. The..Earth returneth..those splendent beames which formerly the Sunne conferred on it. If the sencelesse and lifelesse Eliments can thus react it, then reasonable man, [etc.].
1646 Sir T. Browne Pseudodoxia Epidemica 386 The spirits of many..meeting no assimilables wherein to react their natures, must certainely anticipate such naturall desolations. View more context for this quotation
a1656 R. Vines Gods Drawing (1662) 135 The hard heart of man by its renitency reacts and repulses the tenders of grace.
1678 R. Cudworth True Intellect. Syst. Universe i. v. 731 Every thing that Suffered and Reacted Motion, especially Polite Bodies, as Looking-Glasses.
b. intransitive. To act in return on or upon a specified agent or influence; to produce a reciprocal or responsive effect. Cf. earlier reaction n. 2a. Now rare.Sometimes used loosely when previous action is merely implied or possible.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > operation upon something > have effect on [verb (transitive)] > in return
react1644
1644 K. Digby Two Treat. i. xvi. 141 If fire doth heate water, the water reacteth againe..vpon the fire and cooleth it.
c1724 J. Swift Answer Delany in Wks. (1735) II. 304 Because, the Soul her Power contracts, And on the Brother Limb re-acts.
1771 J. Wesley Wks. (1872) V. 233 God does not continue to act upon the Soul, unless the Soul re-acts upon God.
1831 T. B. Macaulay Speech House of Commons 5 July Government and society are cause and effect—they re-act on each other.
1871 S. Smiles Character i. 10 Good deeds act and react on the doers of them; and so do evil.
1880 J. McCarthy Hist. our Own Times IV. l. 61 Applause reacts upon the orator.
1910 H. James Let. 8 Feb. in H. James & E. Wharton Lett. (1990) iii. 147 The letters..react back even upon dear old George..rather fatally.
1975 F. C. Copleston Hist. Philos. IX. xvii. 379 Man makes the machine; but the machine then reacts on man.
c. intransitive. To exert a physical force equal to one received; to produce an equal and opposite force (on, upon, against something). Cf. earlier reaction n. 2b.
ΚΠ
1664 J. Chandler tr. J. B. van Helmont Wks. xlii. 326 Weights as such, do never act, or re-act on each other naturally.
1734 J. Rowning Compend. Syst. Nat. Philos. iv. 22 Consequently the Ground reacting and continuing at rest pushes the Horse forward with just so much force as the Horse exerts.
1755 R. Spearman Enq. Philos. & Theol. i. 93 The firmament or airs resist, repress, or react against a body, as much as the body presses or acts upon the firmament or airs.
1825 ‘J. Nicholson’ Operative Mechanic 335 The hammer in its ascent strikes against this beam, called the rabbit, which by its elasticity reacts upon the hammer.
1871 J. Tyndall Fragm. Sci. (ed. 6) II. xvi. 435 The strengthened magnet instantly reacts upon the coil which feeds it.
1907 A. P. Gage & A. W. Goodspeed Princ. Physics (rev. ed.) 28 The wings of a bird act upon the air..; the air reacts upon the wings, giving the bird a forward motion.
2006 J. M. Pallis in R. Bartlett et al. Encycl. Internat. Sports Stud. II. 635/1 The centreline, or keel, of the boat reacts against the water... The keel produces a force that opposes the heeling force of the sail.
2.
a. intransitive. To act in response to a stimulus; to undergo a change under some influence; (now esp.) (Biology and Medicine) to undergo a physiological or pathological response, esp. to a stimulus, drug, antigen, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > operate [verb (intransitive)] > in return
respond1600
react?1608
retroact1797
?1608 S. Lennard tr. P. Charron Of Wisdome i. ix. 36 The senses are not purely passiue: for notwithstanding they receiue, and are stricken by the obiect, yet neuerthelesse..they doe worke or react in apprehending the species and image of the obiect proposed.
1656 tr. T. Hobbes Elements Philos. iv. xxv. 293 Though all Sense..be made by Reaction, nevertheless it is not necessary that every thing that Reacteth should have Sense.
1747 tr. G. van Swieten Comm. Aphorisms Boerhaave VI. 225 The arteries react more powerfully as they are more distended or dilated.
1799 Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc. 4 136 The sudden application of cold, terror, or other suddenly debilitating power, may become the exciting or occasional cause of febrile disease, in an indirect manner by repelling the blood to the heart, lungs and brain, and forcing them to react by the stimulous [sic] of distention.
1882 S. H. Vines tr. J. von Sachs Text-bk. Bot. (ed. 2) 895 The tendency to expand is increased by darkness..: light has the contrary effect, and the one half always reacts more powerfully than the other.
1891 F. Darwin in Nature 409 Plants may gain..various aptitudes for reacting to light and gravitation.
1921 G. B. Shaw Back to Methuselah p. xlviii The assumption that he may safely cross Oxford Street in a state of unconsciousness, trusting to his dodging reflexes to react automatically and promptly enough to the visual impression produced by a motor bus.
1953 R. W. Fairbrother Text-bk. Bacteriol. (ed. 7) xi. 152 When animals recover from anaphylactic shock they do not react to further injections of the same antigen for some considerable time.
1991 Today's Parent Aug. 47/3 Many babies who are sensitive to formulas based on cow's milk also react to soy-based formulas.
2005 New Yorker 10 Jan. 33/1 Infants with meningitis are much more likely than adults to react poorly to chloramphenicol.
b. intransitive. Generally: to act in response to something; to respond in a particular way.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > doing > act or do [verb (intransitive)] > react
respond1600
react1913
1913 H. James Small Boy & Others xv. 212 What tenuity of spirit it argues that I should neither have enjoyed nor been aware of missing..a space wider than the schoolroom floor to react and knock about in.
1931 E. O'Neill Haunted ii, in Mourning becomes Electra (1932) 251 Lavinia... I have a right to love! Orin (reacting as his father had—his face grown livid—with a hoarse cry of fury grabs her by the throat). You—you whore!
1953 Times 13 May 3/5 Mr. Selwyn Lloyd said the Siamese Government..was reacting to this threat by taking precautionary measures on the north-eastern frontier.
1979 Economist 28 Apr. 28/2 A firework lobbed by a demonstrator caused the police to react.
1989 Gamut Summer 5/1 Confronted with the true nature of the Nazi reign..the majority of Germans had reacted with unexpected..indifference.
2003 Decanter Aug. 109 The Bordelais have reacted sensibly, and modestly priced their wines according to the state of the market.
3. Chemistry.
a. intransitive. Of a substance, molecule, etc.: to act on or upon (another substance, etc.) and produce a chemical change.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > chemistry > chemical reactions or processes > undergo chemical reactions or processes [verb (intransitive)] > act upon another (of reagents)
react1788
1788 J. H. De Magellan Cronstedt's Ess. Syst. Mineral. (ed. 2) I. 395 (note) This ore is first torrefied to decompose the sulphur, whose vitriolic acid reacts on the argil, and forms the alum.
1797 Encycl. Brit. IV. 415/1 The nitrous acid soon..reacts on the other metals, and dissolves them.
1827 E. Turner Elem. Chem. 244 Part of the muriatic acid unites with the potassa of the salt, and thus sets chloric acid free, which instantly reacts on the free muriatic acid.
1889 Proc. Royal Soc. 46 31 Like selenium, tellurium reacts upon anhydrous selenic acid in the cold, but with production of a purple-red colour.
1947 J. H. Collins in P. I. Smith Pract. Plastics iv. 49/1 Pure cellulose is only slightly plastic, but if the sides of the chains are reacted on by nitric acid it can be moulded.
1984 Appl. & Environmental Microbiol. 47 307 Whole-cell acylase reacts on a wide spectrum of penicillins and cephalosporins.
b. intransitive. To undergo a chemical reaction; to interact with (another substance, molecule, etc.) or together and undergo a chemical change.
ΚΠ
1857 Proc. Royal Soc. 9 314 These substances react with some violence, and a black substance sinks in the liquid, which proved to be a mixture of chloride and metallic silver.
1866 W. Odling Lect. Animal Chem. 117 The acid or alkali merely enables the protein or gelatinoid substance to react with water H2O.
1938 R. Hum Chem. for Engin. Students xviii. 468 The sodium hydroxide will meet the ferrous chloride..and react to form ferrous hydroxide.
1972 N. Calder Restless Earth (1975) v. 94 The carbohydrate reacts with oxygen to produce carbon dioxide and water.
1991 Lancet 2 Mar. 515/2 Antibody MN5C11G..reacted with whole bacterial cells of both strains.
2001 P. Barham Sci. Cooking x. 152 Baking powder is made from several chemicals which when heated in the presence of some water react together and produce carbon dioxide gas to form bubbles.
c. transitive. To cause (substances, molecules, etc.) to undergo a mutual chemical reaction; to cause to react with (another substance, etc.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > chemistry > chemical reactions or processes > subject to chemical reactions or processes [verb (transitive)] > subject to process affecting reaction > react
actuate1686
activate1893
react1927
1927 Industr. & Engin. Chem. 19 111/1 The literature contains no reference to a resinous product obtained by reacting phenol and glycerol.
1936 Industr. & Engin. Chem. (Industr. ed.) 28 1440/1 An individual olefin, ethylene, and the paraffins propane and isobutane, were reacted together.
1962 J. C. Wright Metall. in Nucl. Power Technol. v. 91 In the Degussa process fine beryl is reacted with excess lime at 1,500°C.
1971 Nature 21 May 195/1 Several antisera previously made against Australasian marsupial sera, were reacted with a range of sera from Australasian and American marsupials in immunoelectrophoretic tests.
2002 Guardian 14 Nov. (Online section) 9/2 The enzyme is the middleman whose job is to take raw luciferin ‘fuel’ and react it with oxygen to make oxyluciferin, which then produces light.
4. intransitive. To act in opposition to some force, pressure, or tendency; to respond with hostility or a contrary course of action against something.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > difficulty > opposition > oppose [verb (transitive)]
withgo743
to go again ——OE
withsayc1175
again-goc1275
withsitc1300
thwarta1325
to go against ——a1382
counter1382
repugnc1384
adversea1393
craba1400
gainsaya1400
movec1400
overthwart?a1425
to put (also set) one's face againsta1425
traversea1425
contrairc1425
to take again ——c1425
contraryc1430
to take against ——a1450
opposec1485
again-seta1500
gain?a1500
oppone1500
transverse1532
to come up against1535
heave at1546
to be against1549
encounter1549
to set shoulder against1551
to fly in the face of1553
crossc1555
to cross with1590
countermand1592
forstand1599
opposit1600
thorter1608
obviate1609
disputea1616
obstrigillate1623
contradict1632
avert1635
to set one's hand against1635
top1641
militate1642
to come across ——1653
contrariate1656
to cross upon (or on)1661
shock1667
clash1685
rencounter1689
obtend1697
counteract1708
oppugnate1749
retroact?1761
controvert1782
react1795
to set against ——1859
appose-
1795 tr. F. A. Boissy d'Anglas Trial Messrs. Pitt, George, & Co. 13 France should be dismembered, and incapable of giving that support which she may need against the powers of Germany re-acting against her.
1861 M. Arnold Pop. Educ. France p. xx I know that some individuals react against the strongest impediments.
1871 Daily News 31 Jan. He..did all that lay in him to react against the cry, à Berlin.
1922 I. Goldberg Drama of Transition 270 [Expressionist] painting,..reacting against that same photographic realism which prevailed in naturalistic drama, sought a certain neo-primitivism.
1969 J. Gross Rise & Fall Man of Lett. v. 131 It can be seen, in the first place, as a straightforward swing of the pendulum, the young reacting against the sheer frumpishness of their elders.
2004 Times Lit. Suppl. 17 Dec. 7/1 It is noteworthy how many distinguished antagonists of religion appear to be reacting against a fundamentalist past.
5.
a. intransitive. To move or tend in a reverse direction; to return towards a previous condition.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > change > change to something else, transformation > change of direction, reversion > revert [verb (intransitive)] > to former state or condition
to turn againc1325
returnc1405
resorta1438
revert?a1513
to pass and repass1548
refall1570
relapse1593
unhappen1805
react1841
involute1904
relax1934
reset1946
1841 G. Waddington Hist. Reformation I. xi. 267 The spiritual errors, which had been supported and canonised by the authority of the Pope, reacted back again for the support of the See.
1875 Ld. Tennyson Queen Mary iv. iii. 212 Heaven help that this re-action not re-act, Yet fiercelier under Queen Elizabeth.
1893 Westm. Gaz. 29 Nov. 2/1 His father was a strong Wesleyan, and the son, as was natural, reacted towards the Church of England.
1925 J. M. Murry Keats & Shakespeare iv. 47 The counter-irritant away from which Keats reacted towards a fuller knowledge of his own nature.
1996 R. Cowley & G. Parker Reader's Compan. Mil. Hist. 96/1 Sobered, both leaders now reacted away from belligerence and sought some accommodation by signing the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty of 1963.
b. intransitive. Finance. Of commodities, shares, etc.: to fall after rising.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > monetary value > price > fluctuation in price > [verb (intransitive)] > decline in price or fall > after rising
react1865
1865 Times 30 June 10 Gold has varied considerably. On Thursday there was great excitement..and prices were forced up.., but the market subsequently reacted, and prices yesterday declined.
1896 Daily News 5 Nov. 7/4 Silver reacted 21/ 2, but rallied 13/ 4 on dealings.
1927 Daily Tel. 22 Nov. 2 Cairn line reacted 9d and P. and O. fell 2.
1972 Daily Tel. 29 Apr. 17/6 The shares reacted to 222p before rallying to 228p, a net loss of 2.
2004 Econ. Times (Nexis) 21 July Gold prices reacted mildly on the bullion market today on lack of demand... Silver also dropped.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2008; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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