Meaning of react in English

react

verb [ I ]

/riˈækt/ us

/riˈækt/

to act in a particular way as a direct result of something else:

She slapped him and called him names, but he didn't react.

The judge reacted angrily to the suggestion that it hadn't been a fair trial.

Many people react (badly) to (= are made ill by) penicillin.

Thesaurus: synonyms, antonyms, and examples

to answer someone

answer"Thank you", she answered.
replyThe man replied that something was missing.
respondWe aim to respond to all enquiries within five working days.
reactHe reacted positively to the proposal.
get back toI'll look into it and get back to you.
explain"What happened?" she asked. - "There's no time to explain!" he said.

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chemistry

to change in a physical or chemical way when put with another substance:

Potassium reacts with water.

More examples

It's difficult to gauge how they'll react.
She slapped him and called him names, but he didn't react.
The prime minister reacted angrily to claims that he had lied to the House of Commons.
She reacted surprisingly calmly to the news of his death.
The government was very slow to react to the problem.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Reacting and responding

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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

Physical & chemical processes

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Phrasal verb

react against something

(Definition of react from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

react | American Dictionary

react

verb [ I ]

/riˈækt/

to act in a particular way as a direct result of something else:

How do you think she’ll react when she hears the news?

The State Department reacted favorably to the proposal.

chemistry

If substances react, they change when brought together.

(Definition of react from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

react | Business English

react

verb [ I ]

/riˈækt/ us

if prices or markets react, their levels rise or fall as a direct result of something that happens:

react to sth How did bank share prices react to last year's financial results?

react badly/favourably/positively The market reacted positively to last week's news of the £53.7m bid.

react with sth The shares reacted with a 22p fall to 684p.

to behave in a particular way as a direct result of something else:

react calmly/cautiously

react quickly/strongly

react to sth The union reacted angrily to the threat of job losses.

react by doing sth China has reacted to reports of unsafe products by cracking down on its own manufacturers.

(Definition of react from the Cambridge Business English Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of react

react

A comparative analysis of current literature in fact suggests that men reacted to the danger and disempowerment of modern combat in remarkably similar ways.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

With a gentle push on the back, the human body reacts with the ankle strategy.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Whitehead uses the concept of the masculine subject to capture the fact that a man perceives and reacts to a set of cultural discourses.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The evolution of catalysts had to be in parallel with the evolution of the molecular species reacting.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Chapter 5 deals with teachers evaluating the performance of their pupils and reacting to the assessment of examiners, adjudicators, critics and agents.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

A sodium reagent is used and the chloride ions are reacted with mercury and diphenylcarbazone to form a purple colour.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

When the specialized bureaucrats, politicians, and interest groups reacted and tried to fight back against these proposals, they naturally attracted press attention.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Figures 5 and 6 show how steel prices reacted to a switch in government in a majoritarian system.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

She defines relaxation as: that condition in which we have the greatest capacity of reacting.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The mapping module is made up of an extensible set of functions which reacts to the detected features by generating an appropriate output.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Subjects with high symptom levels reacted faster and performed more false positive responses than subjects with low symptom levels.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

His body reacts to the imprisonment of his soul.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Nonetheless, those women who did understand the language could and should have reacted at their own discretion.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

A detailed understanding of the linear stability characteristics of compressible reacting mixing layers will be of aid in mixing enhancement.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

609 plagioclase, which reacted with neighbouring garnet and omphacite during a period of ductile shearing.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

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These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.

Translations of react

in Chinese (Traditional)

反應, 作出回應, 産生（化學）反應…

Meaning of react in English

Phrasal verb

react | American Dictionary

react | Business English

Examples of react

Translations of react

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