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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. One wise in council, one in action brave. Pope.…

That may be the subject of an action or suit at law; as, to call a man a thief is actionable.

Having the power or quality of acting; causing change; communicating action or motion; acting; -- opposed to Ant: passive, that receives; as, certain active principles; the powers of the mind.

The quality of being active; nimbleness; quickness of motion; activity.

The state or quality of being active; nimbleness; agility; vigorous action or operation; energy; active force; as, an increasing variety of human activities. "The activity of toil." Palfrey.

A stuffed jacket worn under the mail, or (later) a jacket plated with mail. [Spelled also hacqueton.] [Obs.] Halliwell. Sir W. Scott.

A theatrical performer; a stageplayer. After a well graced actor leaves the stage. Shak.

Involving or comprising action; active. [Obs.] Her walking and other actual performances. Shak. Let your holy and pious intention be actual; that is . . . by a special prayer or action, . . . given to God. Jer. Taylor.

One who deals with or considers actually existing facts and conditions, rather than fancies or theories; -- opposed to idealist. J. Grote.

The state of being actual; reality; as, the actuality of God's nature. South.

Of or pertaining to actuaries; as, the actuarial value of an annuity.

The computing official of an insurance company; one whose profession it is to calculate for insurance companies the risks and premiums for life, fire, and other insurances.

nfluence actively; to move as motives do; -- more commonly used of persons. Wings, which others were contriving to actuate by the perpetual motion. Johnson. Men of the greatest abilities are most fired with ambition; and, on the contrary, mean and narrow minds are the least actuated by it. Addison.

Tendency or impulse to act. [R.] Acturience, or desire of action, in one form or another, whether as restlessness, ennui, dissatisfaction, or the imagination of something desirable. J. Grote.

To sharpen; to make pungent; to quicken. [Obs.] "[To] acuate the blood." Harvey.

The act of sharpening. [Obs.]

A prickle growing on the bark, as in some brambles and roses. Lindley.

Quickness of perception or discernment; penetration of mind; the faculty of nice discrimination. Selden.

de of arresting hemorrhage resulting from wounds or surgical operations, by passing under the divided vessel a needle, the ends of which are left exposed externally on the cutaneous surface. Simpson.

The insertion of needles into the living tissues for remedial purposes.