react

• POS: Verb (intransitive)
• HYPHEN: re=act

CIDE DICTIONARY

react, v. t. 

 To act or perform a second time; to do over again; to reenact; as, to react a play; the same scenes were reacted at Rome.  [1913 Webster]

react, v. i. 

•  To return an impulse or impression; to resist the action of another body by an opposite force; as, every body reacts on the body that impels it from its natural state.  [1913 Webster]
•  To act upon each other; to exercise a reciprocal or a reverse effect, as two or more chemical agents; to act in opposition.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

react, v.
1 intr. (foll. by to) respond to a stimulus; undergo a change or show behaviour due to some influence (how did they react to the news?).
2 intr. (often foll. by against) be actuated by repulsion to; tend in a reverse or contrary direction.
3 intr. (often foll. by upon) produce a reciprocal or responsive effect; act upon the agent (they react upon each other).
4 intr. (foll. by with) Chem. & Physics (of a substance or particle) be the cause of activity or interaction with another (nitrous oxide reacts with the metal).
5 tr. (foll. by with) Chem. cause (a substance) to react with another.
6 intr. Mil. make a counter-attack.
7 intr. Stock Exch. (of shares) fall after rising.

Etymology

RE- + ACT or med.L reagere react- (as RE-, L agere do, act)

THESAURUS

react

acknowledge, act, answer, answer back, be affected, be in tune, be inspired, be involved, be moved, behave, care about, catch the flame, catch the infection, change color, color with emotion, come back, come back at, dig, echo, empathize with, flash back, function, give acknowledgment, give answer, identify with, operate, perform, proceed, reciprocate, recur, reecho, rejoin, relate to emotionally, renovate, reply, respond, retaliate, retort, return, return answer, return for answer, reverberate, revert, riposte, say, say in reply, share, shoot back, snap back, sympathize with, take, take the bait, talk back, turn, turn back, work

ROGET THESAURUS

react

Counteraction

VB counteract, run counter, clash, cross, interfere with, conflict with, contravene, jostle, go against, run against, beat against, militate against, stultify, antagonize, block, oppose, traverse, withstand, hinder, repress, react, undo, neutralize, counterpoise, overpoise.

Recoil

VB recoil, react, spring back, fly back, bounce back, bound back, rebound, reverberate, repercuss, recalcitrate, echo, ricochet.