I.
noun
1 thing that sb does
ADJECTIVE
▪ charitable , kind
▪ heroic , selfless
▪
a heroic ~ of bravery
▪ aggressive , barbaric , hostile , provocative , terrorist , violent
▪
He was arrested on suspicion of planning terrorist ~s.
▪ appalling ( esp. BrE ), cowardly , despicable , heinous , horrific , immoral , outrageous , terrible , unspeakable
▪
appalling ~s of cruelty
▪
horrific ~s of violence
▪ criminal , delinquent ( esp. AmE ), illegal , unlawful , wrongful
▪ careless ( esp. BrE ), foolish , impulsive
▪ conscious , deliberate , intentional , positive , voluntary , wilful/willful
▪
The company says that the explosion was no accident but a deliberate ~ of sabotage.
▪ private , public
▪
a private ~ of revenge
▪ creative , dramatic , physical , political , symbolic
▪ homosexual , sex , sexual
▪ random
▪
random ~s of violence
VERB + ACT
▪ carry out , commit ( law ), perform , perpetrate
▪
images of African Americans performing heroic ~s
▪
charged with committing an ~ of gross indecency
▪ condemn
▪ condone , justify
▪ prevent
▪ witness
PREPOSITION
▪ in the ~ of (= while doing something)
▪ ~ of
▪
For Jane, the ~ of writing was always difficult.
PHRASES
▪ an ~ of faith , an ~ of love , an ~ of violence , an ~ of will , an ~ of worship
▪ a hard ~ to follow , a tough ~ to follow
▪
Their contribution will prove a hard ~ to follow.
▪ catch sb in the ~ (of doing sth)
▪
He was caught in the ~ of stealing.
▪ the simple ~ of doing sth , the very ~ of doing sth
▪
The very ~ of writing out your plan clarifies what you need to do.
2 law made by a government
VERB + ACT
▪ bring in ( BrE ), introduce , pass
▪
The Act was passed by a majority of 175 votes to 143.
▪ amend
▪ repeal
▪
The old ~ has now been repealed.
▪ breach ( esp. BrE ), contravene ( BrE ), violate ( esp. AmE )
▪
The company had violated the Data Security Act of 2006.
ACT + VERB
▪ become law , come into force ( BrE )
▪
The new Children's Act will become law next year.
▪ contain sth , say sth , state sth
▪
The ~ contains regulations for financial institutions.
▪ apply to sth
▪
The 1995 ~ applies only to food and not to dietary supplements.
▪ require sth
▪ prohibit sth
PREPOSITION
▪ under an/the ~
▪
He was charged under the Firearms Act.
3 entertainment; entertainers
ADJECTIVE
▪ class ( informal ) (used for sb who does sth well)
▪
Their new player looks a class ~.
▪ solo
▪ double
▪
comedy double ~ French and Saunders
▪ live
▪
their reputation as one of rock's most impressive live ~s
▪ main , support
▪
The main ~ will come on at about ten o'clock.
▪ opening
▪ cabaret , circus , comedy , dance , drag , music , musical , novelty , stage , stand-up , variety
▪
The club offers live music and cabaret ~s.
▪
The group is merely a novelty ~ ( = an act that is only interesting because it is strange or unusual ).
▪ hip-hop , pop , rock , etc.
▪ balancing , disappearing , juggling , vanishing ( all figurative )
▪
The cat had done a disappearing ~.
▪
The UN must perform a difficult balancing ~ between the two sides in the conflict.
VERB + ACT
▪ do , perform
▪
He does a little novelty ~.
▪ rehearse , work on
▪
I have to work on my ~.
4 division of a play
ADJECTIVE
▪ opening
▪ final , last
▪ first , second , etc.
PREPOSITION
▪ in (the) ~
▪
The king is killed in the opening ~.
5 insincere actions
VERB + ACT
▪ put on
▪
Don't take any notice—she's just putting on an ~!
II.
verb
1 do sth/behave
ADVERB
▪ at once , immediately , promptly , quickly , swiftly
▪
The government must ~ promptly to change this law.
▪ appropriately , correctly , legally , properly
▪ dishonestly , illegally , improperly , inappropriately , unconstitutionally , unlawfully , wrongly
▪
The country's highest court ruled that police had ~ed unlawfully.
▪ rationally , reasonably , responsibly , sensibly ( esp. BrE ), wisely
▪
All citizens have a duty to ~ responsibly and show respect to others.
▪ irrationally , irresponsibly , rashly , unreasonably
▪ oddly , strangely , suspiciously
▪
Jenny has been ~ing rather strangely recently.
▪ bravely , heroically
▪ decisively
▪
The government was criticized for failing to ~ decisively.
▪ aggressively
▪ independently , unilaterally
▪ effectively
▪ in self-defence/self-defense
▪
The jury accepted that he had ~ed in self-defence/self-defense.
▪ accordingly
▪
George knew about the letter and ~ed accordingly.
PREPOSITION
▪ against
▪
The government needs to ~ against the sale of these dangerous toys.
▪ for sb , on behalf of sb
▪
His lawyers are continuing to ~ for him.
▪ like
▪
Stop ~ing like a spoiled child.
▪
hormones in the brain that ~ like natural painkillers
▪ on
▪
Alcohol ~s quickly on the brain.
▪ out of
▪
I suspected that he was ~ing out of malice.
PHRASES
▪ ~ as if
▪
She was ~ing as if she owned the place.
▪ ~ in sb's best interests
▪
We are all ~ing in the best interests of the children.
▪ ~ in good faith
▪
His excuse was that he had ~ed in good faith.
2 perform in a play, film/movie, etc.
ADVERB
▪ brilliantly , well
▪
The play is well ~ed.
▪ badly , poorly
Act is used with these nouns as the subject: ↑ actor, actress
Act is used with these nouns as the object: ↑ age , ↑ part , ↑ scene