Learning / English Dictionary

BEHAVE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Behave in a certain manner; show a certain behavior; conduct or comport oneself

Example:

The dog acts ferocious, but he is really afraid of people

Synonyms:

act; behave; do

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Verb group:

act; dissemble; pretend (behave unnaturally or affectedly)

act; act as; play (pretend to have certain qualities or state of mind)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "behave"):

rage; ramp; storm (behave violently, as if in state of a great anger)

loosen up; relax (become less tense, less formal, or less restrained, and assume a friendlier manner)

follow (accept and follow the leadership or command or guidance of)

puff up; swell (become filled with pride, arrogance, or anger)

frivol; trifle (act frivolously)

footle (act foolishly, as by talking nonsense)

sauce (behave saucily or impudently towards)

hugger mugger (act stealthily or secretively)

backslap (display excessive cordiality (towards))

dally; dawdle (waste time)

break down; lose it; snap (lose control of one's emotions)

make as if (begin or appear to begin an action)

make (behave in a certain way)

piffle (act in a trivial or ineffective way)

jest; joke (act in a funny or teasing way)

stooge (act as a stooge, in a compliant or subordinate manner)

act involuntarily; act reflexively (act in an uncontrolled manner)

bend over backwards; fall over backwards (try very hard to please someone)

presume (take liberties or act with too much confidence)

vulgarise; vulgarize (act in a vulgar manner)

optimise; optimize (act as an optimist and take a sunny view of the world)

quack (act as a medical quack or a charlatan)

menace (act in a threatening manner)

make (act in a certain way so as to acquire)

bluster; swagger; swash (act in an arrogant, overly self-assured, or conceited manner)

freeze (suddenly behave coldly and formally)

wanton (behave extremely cruelly and brutally)

romanticize (act in a romantic way)

sentimentalise; sentimentalize; sentimentise; sentimentize (act in a sentimental way or indulge in sentimental thoughts or expression)

bungle (spoil by behaving clumsily or foolishly)

play; toy (engage in an activity as if it were a game rather than take it seriously)

act; act as; play (pretend to have certain qualities or state of mind)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s Adjective

Sense 2

Meaning:

Behave in a certain manner

Example:

They conducted themselves well during these difficult times

Synonyms:

acquit; bear; behave; carry; comport; conduct; deport

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Hypernyms (to "behave" is one way to...):

bear; carry; hold (support or hold in a certain manner)

act; move (perform an action, or work out or perform (an action))

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "behave"):

fluster (be flustered; behave in a confused manner)

assert; put forward (insist on having one's opinions and rights recognized)

deal (behave in a certain way towards others)

walk around (behave in a certain manner or have certain properties)

pose; posture (behave affectedly or unnaturally in order to impress others)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Sense 3

Meaning:

Behave well or properly

Example:

The children must learn to behave

Synonyms:

behave; comport

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Hypernyms (to "behave" is one way to...):

act; move (perform an action, or work out or perform (an action))

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "behave"):

walk (live or behave in a specified manner)

assert oneself (put oneself forward in an assertive and insistent manner)

remember oneself (recover one's good manners after a lapse or stop behaving badly)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Antonym:

misbehave (behave badly)

Credits

 Context examples: 

There are at least 4 isoforms of AKAP350 which lead to the possibility that they may behave differently at different subcellular locations.

(Centrosome Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)

According to this type of medicine, the constitution is the specific way a person’s organs affect health and how he or she looks, thinks, behaves, and responds to treatment.

(Constitutional acupuncture, NCI Dictionary)

People may have strange sensations and emotions or behave strangely.

(Epilepsy, NIH: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke)

However, under the conditions of recommended use it behaves as a classic mu-opioid agonist, mimicking the actions of endogenous peptides at CNS opioid receptors.

(Buprenorphine Hydrochloride, NCI Thesaurus)

Superficially located histiocytic lesions behave benignly but deep, benign histiocytomas may invade locally into surrounding tissue.

(Benign Fibrous Histiocytoma, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)

In the stability study the two viruses behaved similarly, which unfortunately fails to explain why COVID-19 has become a much larger outbreak.

(New coronavirus stable for hours on surface, National Institutes of Health)

A stimulus causing an organism to behave so as to minimize exposure to it (as in negative reinforcement or punishment procedures).

(Aversive Stimulus, NCI Thesaurus)

Having to do with beliefs about what is right and wrong in terms of how people behave.

(Ethical, NCI Dictionary)

It usually behaves as a low grade sarcoma.

(Follicular Dendritic Cell Sarcoma, NCI Thesaurus)

How an English gentleman could behave in such a manner is beyond my comprehension.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)