ACTIVITY

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does activity mean? 

• ACTIVITY (noun)
  The noun ACTIVITY has 6 senses:

1. any specific behavior

2. the state of being active

3. an organic process that takes place in the body

4. (chemistry) the capacity of a substance to take part in a chemical reaction

5. a process existing in or produced by nature (rather than by the intent of human beings)

6. the trait of being active; moving or acting rapidly and energetically

  Familiarity information: ACTIVITY used as a noun is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ACTIVITY (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Any specific behavior

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Context example:

they avoided all recreational activity

Hypernyms ("activity" is a kind of...):

act; deed; human action; human activity (something that people do or cause to happen)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "activity"):

update (the act of bringing someone or something up to date)

variance; variation (an activity that varies from a norm or standard)

space walk (any kind of physical activity outside a spacecraft by one of the crew)

domesticity (domestic activities or life)

operation (the activity of operating something (a machine or business etc.))

operation (a planned activity involving many people performing various actions)

pattern; practice (a customary way of operation or behavior)

diversion; recreation (an activity that diverts or amuses or stimulates)

bag; cup of tea; dish (an activity that you like or at which you are superior)

follow-up; followup (an activity that continues something that has already begun or that repeats something that has already been done)

game (a contest with rules to determine a winner)

play; turn ((game) the activity of doing something in an agreed succession)

music (musical activity (singing or whistling etc.))

acting; performing; playacting; playing (the performance of a part or role in a drama)

animation; liveliness (general activity and motion)

burst; fit (a sudden flurry of activity (often for no obvious reason))

work (activity directed toward making or doing something)

deeds; works (performance of moral or religious acts)

service ((law) the acts performed by an English feudal tenant for the benefit of his lord which formed the consideration for the property granted to him)

business; job; line; line of work; occupation (the principal activity in your life that you do to earn money)

occupation (any activity that occupies a person's attention)

committal to writing; writing (the activity of putting something in written form)

role (normal or customary activity of a person in a particular social setting)

actus reus; misconduct; wrongdoing; wrongful conduct (activity that transgresses moral or civil law)

dissipation; waste; wastefulness (useless or profitless activity; using or expending or consuming thoughtlessly or carelessly)

attempt; effort; endeavor; endeavour; try (earnest and conscientious activity intended to do or accomplish something)

control (the activity of managing or exerting control over something)

protection (the activity of protecting someone or something)

sensory activity (activity intended to achieve a particular sensory result)

didactics; education; educational activity; instruction; pedagogy; teaching (the activities of educating or instructing; activities that impart knowledge or skill)

grooming; preparation; training (activity leading to skilled behavior)

representation (an activity that stands as an equivalent of something or results in an equivalent)

creation; creative activity (the human act of creating)

disassembly; dismantlement; dismantling (the act of taking something apart (as a piece of machinery))

puncture (the act of puncturing or perforating)

hunt; hunting; search (the activity of looking thoroughly in order to find something or someone)

employment; exercise; usage; use; utilisation; utilization (the act of using)

military operation; operation (activity by a military or naval force (as a maneuver or campaign))

measure; measurement; measuring; mensuration (the act or process of assigning numbers to phenomena according to a rule)

calibration; standardisation; standardization (the act of checking or adjusting (by comparison with a standard) the accuracy of a measuring instrument)

organisation; organization (the activity or result of distributing or disposing persons or things properly or methodically)

grouping (the activity of putting things together in groups)

support; supporting (the act of bearing the weight of or strengthening)

continuance; continuation (the act of continuing an activity without interruption)

procedure; process (a particular course of action intended to achieve a result)

ceremony (any activity that is performed in an especially solemn elaborate or formal way)

ceremony (the proper or conventional behavior on some solemn occasion)

worship (the activity of worshipping)

activating; activation; energizing (the activity of causing to have energy and be active)

concealing; concealment; hiding (the activity of keeping something secret)

emplacement; locating; location; placement; position; positioning (the act of putting something in a certain place)

provision; supply; supplying (the activity of supplying or providing something)

demand (the act of demanding)

pleasure (an activity that affords enjoyment)

delectation; enjoyment (act of receiving pleasure from something)

lamentation; mourning (the passionate and demonstrative activity of expressing grief)

laughter (the activity of laughing; the manifestation of joy or mirth or scorn)

market; market place; marketplace (the world of commercial activity where goods and services are bought and sold)

politics (the activities and affairs involved in managing a state or a government)

preparation; readying (the activity of putting or setting in order in advance of some act or purpose)

aid; assist; assistance; help (the activity of contributing to the fulfillment of a need or furtherance of an effort or purpose)

support (the activity of providing for or maintaining by supplying with money or necessities)

behavior; behaviour; conduct; doings (manner of acting or controlling yourself)

behavior; behaviour ((psychology) the aggregate of the responses or reactions or movements made by an organism in any situation)

leadership; leading (the activity of leading)

precedence; precedency; precession (the act of preceding in time or order or rank (as in a ceremony))

solo (any activity that is performed alone without assistance)

buzz (a confusion of activity and gossip)

fun (violent and excited activity)

outlet; release; vent (activity that frees or expresses creative energy or emotion)

last (a person's dying act; the final thing a person can do)

mystification; obfuscation (the activity of obscuring people's understanding, leaving them baffled or bewildered)

negotiation (the activity or business of negotiating an agreement; coming to terms)

verbalisation; verbalization (the activity of expressing something in words)

disturbance; perturbation (activity that is a malfunction, intrusion, or interruption)

timekeeping (the act or process of determining the time)

Antonym:

inactivity (being inactive; being less active)

Derivation:

active (in operation)

active (taking part in an activity)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The state of being active

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

action; activeness; activity

Context example:

he is out of action

Hypernyms ("activity" is a kind of...):

state (the way something is with respect to its main attributes)

Attribute:

active ((of e.g. volcanos) erupting or liable to erupt)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "activity"):

agency (the state of being in action or exerting power)

busyness; hum (the state of being or appearing to be actively engaged in an activity)

behavior; behaviour (the action or reaction of something (as a machine or substance) under specified circumstances)

eructation; eruption; extravasation ((of volcanos) pouring out fumes or lava (or a deposit so formed))

operation (the state of being in effect or being operative)

overdrive (the state of high or excessive activity or productivity or concentration)

play (a state in which action is feasible)

swing (a state of steady vigorous action that is characteristic of an activity)

Antonym:

inactivity (the state of being inactive)

Derivation:

active (engaged in full-time work)

active (engaged in or ready for military or naval operations)

Sense 3

Meaning:

An organic process that takes place in the body

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural processes

Synonyms:

activity; bodily function; bodily process; body process

Context example:

respiratory activity

Hypernyms ("activity" is a kind of...):

biological process; organic process (a process occurring in living organisms)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "activity"):

control ((physiology) regulation or maintenance of a function or action or reflex etc)

breathing; external respiration; respiration; ventilation (the bodily process of inhalation and exhalation; the process of taking in oxygen from inhaled air and releasing carbon dioxide by exhalation)

respiration (a single complete act of breathing in and out)

breath (the process of taking in and expelling air during breathing)

consumption; ingestion; intake; uptake (the process of taking food into the body through the mouth (as by eating))

sex; sex activity; sexual activity; sexual practice (activities associated with sexual intercourse)

insemination (the introduction of semen into the genital tract of a female)

sleeping (the suspension of consciousness and decrease in metabolic rate)

reaction; response (a bodily process occurring due to the effect of some antecedent stimulus or agent)

crying; tears; weeping (the process of shedding tears (usually accompanied by sobs or other inarticulate sounds))

ablactation (the cessation of lactation)

anastalsis (muscular action of the alimentary tract in a direction opposite to peristalsis)

discharge; emission; expelling (any of several bodily processes by which substances go out of the body)

expectoration (the process of coughing up and spitting out)

festering; maturation; suppuration ((medicine) the formation of morbific matter in an abscess or a vesicle and the discharge of pus)

healing (the natural process by which the body repairs itself)

hypostasis (the accumulation of blood in an organ)

lachrymation; lacrimation; tearing; watering (shedding tears)

lactation (the production and secretion of milk by the mammary glands)

opsonisation; opsonization (process whereby opsonins make an invading microorganism more susceptible to phagocytosis)

overactivity (excessive activity)

peristalsis; vermiculation (the process of wavelike muscle contractions of the alimentary tract that moves food along)

diaphoresis; hidrosis; perspiration; sudation; sweating (the process of the sweat glands of the skin secreting a salty fluid)

phagocytosis (process in which phagocytes engulf and digest microorganisms and cellular debris; an important defense against infection)

pinocytosis (process by which certain cells can engulf and incorporate droplets of fluid)

placentation (the formation of the placenta in the uterus)

psilosis (falling out of hair)

tanning (process in which skin pigmentation darkens as a result of exposure to ultraviolet light)

transpiration (the process of giving off or exhaling water vapor through the skin or mucous membranes)

Derivation:

active (tending to become more severe or wider in scope)

Sense 4

Meaning:

(chemistry) the capacity of a substance to take part in a chemical reaction

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Context example:

catalytic activity

Hypernyms ("activity" is a kind of...):

capability; capacity (the susceptibility of something to a particular treatment)

Domain category:

chemical science; chemistry (the science of matter; the branch of the natural sciences dealing with the composition of substances and their properties and reactions)

Derivation:

active (exerting influence or producing a change or effect)

Sense 5

Meaning:

A process existing in or produced by nature (rather than by the intent of human beings)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural processes

Synonyms:

action; activity; natural action; natural process

Context example:

volcanic activity

Hypernyms ("activity" is a kind of...):

physical process; process (a sustained phenomenon or one marked by gradual changes through a series of states)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "activity"):

radiation (the spread of a group of organisms into new habitats)

absorption ((physics) the process in which incident radiated energy is retained without reflection or transmission on passing through a medium)

acidification (the process of becoming acid or being converted into an acid)

adiabatic process ((thermodynamics) any process that occurs without gain or loss of heat)

aeration (the process of exposing to air (so as to purify))

antiredeposition (the process of preventing redeposition)

capture (any process in which an atomic or nuclear system acquires an additional particle)

capture (a process whereby a star or planet holds an object in its gravitational field)

centrifugation (the process of separating substances of different densities by the use of a centrifuge)

chemical action; chemical change; chemical process ((chemistry) any process determined by the atomic and molecular composition and structure of the substances involved)

chromatography (a process used for separating mixtures by virtue of differences in absorbency)

concretion (the formation of stonelike objects within a body organ (e.g., the kidneys))

condensation (the process of changing from a gaseous to a liquid or solid state)

convection ((meteorology) the vertical movement of heat or other properties by massive motion within the atmosphere)

clotting; coagulation; curdling (the process of forming semisolid lumps in a liquid)

decay (the process of gradually becoming inferior)

demagnetisation; demagnetization (the process of removing magnetization)

desorption (changing from an adsorbed state on a surface to a gaseous or liquid state)

diffusion ((physics) the process in which there is movement of a substance from an area of high concentration of that substance to an area of lower concentration)

disintegration; dissolution (separation into component parts)

distillation; distillment (the process of purifying a liquid by boiling it and condensing its vapors)

drift (the gradual departure from an intended course due to external influences (as a ship or plane))

effervescence (the process of bubbling as gas escapes)

cataphoresis; dielectrolysis; electrophoresis; ionophoresis (the motion of charged particles in a colloid under the influence of an electric field; particles with a positive charge go to the cathode and negative to the anode)

ecesis; establishment ((ecology) the process by which a plant or animal becomes established in a new habitat)

extinction (the reduction of the intensity of radiation as a consequence of absorption and radiation)

extraction (the process of obtaining something from a mixture or compound by chemical or physical or mechanical means)

feedback (the process in which part of the output of a system is returned to its input in order to regulate its further output)

filtration (the process whereby fluids pass through a filter or a filtering medium)

flocculation (the process of flocculating; forming woolly cloudlike aggregations)

flow (any uninterrupted stream or discharge)

formation (natural process that causes something to form)

fossilisation; fossilization (the process of fossilizing a plant or animal that existed in some earlier age; the process of being turned to stone)

geologic process; geological process ((geology) a natural process whereby geological features are modified)

curing; hardening; set; solidification; solidifying (the process of becoming hard or solid by cooling or drying or crystallization)

inactivation (the process of rendering inactive)

ion exchange (a process in which ions are exchanged between a solution and an insoluble (usually resinous) solid; widely used in industrial processing)

ionisation; ionization (the process of ionizing; the formation of ions by separating atoms or molecules or radicals or by adding or subtracting electrons from atoms by strong electric fields in a gas)

leach; leaching (the process of leaching)

magnetic induction; magnetisation; magnetization (the process that makes a substance magnetic (temporarily or permanently))

materialisation; materialization (the process of coming into being; becoming reality)

nuclear reaction ((physics) a process that alters the energy or structure or composition of atomic nuclei)

opacification (the process of becoming cloudy or opaque)

oscillation (the process of oscillating between states)

oxygenation (the process of providing or combining or treating with oxygen)

pair creation; pair formation; pair production (the transformation of a gamma-ray photon into an electron and a positron when the photon passes close to an atomic nucleus)

phase change; phase transition; physical change; state change (a change from one state (solid or liquid or gas) to another without a change in chemical composition)

precession of the equinoxes (a slow westward shift of the equinoxes along the plane of the ecliptic caused by precession of the Earth's axis of rotation)

release (a process that liberates or discharges something)

saltation ((geology) the leaping movement of sand or soil particles as they are transported in a fluid medium over an uneven surface)

scattering (the physical process in which particles are deflected haphazardly as a result of collisions)

sericulture (raising silkworms in order to obtain raw silk)

sink ((technology) a process that acts to absorb or remove energy or a substance from a system)

soak; soakage; soaking (the process of becoming softened and saturated as a consequence of being immersed in water (or other liquid))

softening (the process of becoming softer)

sorption (the process in which one substance takes up or holds another (by either absorption or adsorption))

source ((technology) a process by which energy or a substance enters a system)

rigidification; rigidifying; stiffening (the process of becoming stiff or rigid)

stimulation ((physiology) the effect of a stimulus (on nerves or organs etc.))

ecological succession; succession ((ecology) the gradual and orderly process of change in an ecosystem brought about by the progressive replacement of one community by another until a stable climax is established)

natural selection; selection; survival; survival of the fittest (a natural process resulting in the evolution of organisms best adapted to the environment)

synergism; synergy (the working together of two things (muscles or drugs for example) to produce an effect greater than the sum of their individual effects)

temperature change (a process whereby the degree of hotness of a body (or medium) changes)

transduction (the process whereby a transducer accepts energy in one form and gives back related energy in a different form)

transpiration (the passage of gases through fine tubes because of differences in pressure or temperature)

vitrification (the process of becoming vitreous)

Derivation:

active ((of e.g. volcanos) erupting or liable to erupt)

active ((of the sun) characterized by an increased occurrence of sunspots and flares and radio emissions)

Sense 6

Meaning:

The trait of being active; moving or acting rapidly and energetically

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

activeness; activity

Context example:

the level of activity declines with age

Hypernyms ("activity" is a kind of...):

trait (a distinguishing feature of your personal nature)

Attribute:

active (characterized by energetic activity)

inactive (not active physically or mentally)

active (disposed to take action or effectuate change)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "activity"):

animation; brio; invigoration; spiritedness; vivification (quality of being active or spirited or alive and vigorous)

dynamism; oomph; pizzaz; pizzazz; zing (the activeness of an energetic personality)

Derivation:

active (characterized by energetic activity)

active (full of activity or engaged in continuous activity)

active (disposed to take action or effectuate change)

 Context examples 

ABC Transporter Inhibition involves interference with, or restraint of, the activities of cell membrane glycoproteins selectively permeable to P-glycoprotein substrates.

(ABC Transporter Inhibition, NCI Thesaurus)

This alteration in DNA sequence decreases the in vivo catalytic activity of the protein encoded by the ABCB1-2 allele.

(ABCB1 2 Allele, NCI Thesaurus)

A murine IgG1 monoclonal anti-idiotype antibody, containing a variable antigen-binding region that functionally mimics the three-dimensional structure of a specific epitope on the ovarian cancer tumor-associated antigen CA-125, with potential antineoplastic activity.

(Abagovomab, NCI Thesaurus)

This gene has activity as a protease inhibitor.

(A2M Gene, NCI Thesaurus)

A-65 inhibits zinc-dependent histone deacetylase, inducing terminal cell differentiation and anti-angiogenic activity.

(A-65, NCI Thesaurus)

Decrease or loss of the enzymatic activity of this protein is associated with colorectal cancer.

(A/G-Specific Adenine DNA Glycosylase, NCI Thesaurus)

A broad-spectrum phenyl hydroxamic acid inhibitor of histone deacetylase (HDAC) with potential antineoplastic activity.

(Abexinostat, NCI Thesaurus)

Abiraterone inhibits the enzymatic activity of steroid 17alpha-monooxygenase (17alpha-hydrolase/C17,20 lyase complex), a member of the cytochrome p450 family that catalyzes the 17alpha-hydroxylation of steroid intermediates involved in testosterone synthesis.

(Abiraterone acetate, NCI Thesaurus)

A question about whether an individual is or was able to perform their usual activities.

(Able to Perform Usual Activities, NCI Thesaurus)

Abiraterone inhibits the enzymatic activity of steroid 17alpha-monooxygenase (17alpha-hydrolase/C17,20 lyase complex; CYP17A1), a member of the cytochrome p450 family that catalyzes the 17alpha-hydroxylation of steroid intermediates involved in testosterone synthesis.

(Abiraterone, NCI Thesaurus)