react
/rɪˈakt
/verb [no object]
1Act in response to something; respond in a particular way: he reacted angrily to the news of his dismissal the market reacted by falling a further 3.1%...
- Rail passengers have reacted angrily to news that fares are set to rise.
- All my three daughters react differently to stress.
- One reason is that financial markets react quickly to policy changes.
Synonyms
behave, act, take it, conduct oneself, proceed;
respond, reply, answer;
retaliate
rare comport oneself
rebel against, oppose, revolt against, rise up against
1.1 (react against) Respond with hostility or a contrary course of action to: they reacted against the elite art music of their time...
- Workers reacted against the outrageous contract demands of the company, voting by an overwhelming 48 to 3 for strike action.
- How do we react against such violence and war in our time?
- Third, many people in the younger generation, under age 30 or so, are reacting against the culture of divorce.
1.2Suffer from adverse physiological effects after ingesting, breathing, or touching a substance: many babies react to soy-based formulas...
- Therefore you can suddenly react to a substance you may have come in contact with many times before.
- Why do some members of a family react to environmental substances and develop asthma, while others do not?
- Our findings indicate that children at risk for atopy react sensitively to chemical substances that originate from passive smoking.
1.3 Stock Market (Of share prices) fall after rising: the shares reacted to 222p before rallying to 228p...
- Edging down a bit from record highs, but maybe not for long, oil prices react to events in Iraq.
- The stock price is reacting, up some 50 percent to $15 a share since Payne took charge.
- Just how will bond markets and stock markets react to the anticipated rise in US interest rates?
2 Chemistry & Physics Interact and undergo a chemical or physical change: the sulphur in the coal reacts with the limestone during combustion...
- When base is added, it reacts with hydronium ion to decrease its concentration, thereby stressing the system.
- In these reactions the ozone reacts with nitric oxide to produce nitrogen dioxide.
- Direct sensing mechanisms might involve proteins or ligands that bind or react with oxygen.
2.1 [with object] Cause (a substance) to undergo a chemical or physical change by interacting with another substance: in the new process the ammonia will be reacted with oxygen...
- These materials are reacted with sulfuric acid, then neutralized, and converted to a salt.
- Organic sulfates are esters and are formed by reacting an alcohol with cold sulfuric acid or by the reaction of sulfuric acid with a double bond in an alkene.
- Many alkyl halides, alcohols, or alkenes can be reacted with benzene in the presence of certain catalysts to give an alkyl benzene.
Origin
Mid 17th century: from re- (expressing intensive force or reversal) + act, originally suggested by medieval Latin react- 'done again', from the verb reagere.