react
Americanverb (used without object)
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to act in response to an agent or influence.
How did the audience react to the speech?
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to act reciprocally upon each other, as two things.
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to act in a reverse direction or manner, especially so as to return to a prior condition.
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to act in opposition, as against some force.
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to respond to a stimulus in a particular manner.
reacting to a shock by jumping; to react to the word “coward” with anger.
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to undergo a chemical reaction.
verb
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(intr; foll by to, upon etc) (of a person or thing) to act in response to another person, a stimulus, etc, or (of two people or things) to act together in a certain way
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to act in an opposing or contrary manner
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(intr) physics to exert an equal force in the opposite direction to an acting force
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chem to undergo or cause to undergo a chemical reaction
Etymology
Origin of react
First recorded in 1635–45; re- + act, probably modeled on Medieval Latin reagere
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.
Iranian social media users have reacted with anger to news of the incident.
From BBC
A fellow student filmed him in a Liverpool bar years before when he reacted after he thought people were laughing at him.
From BBC
Here is how the international community is reacting.
From BBC
That will provide a first look at how the and other indexes react when full trading opens on Monday morning.
From Barron's
That will provide a first look at how the and other indexes react when full trading opens on Monday morning.
From Barron's
Definitions 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.
