intransitive verb
a verb that indicates a complete action without being accompanied by a direct object, as sit or lie, and, in English, that does not form a passive.
Origin of intransitive verb
1Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use intransitive verb in a sentence
What looks at first, therefore, like a copula turns out to be merely an impersonal intransitive verb.
The Soul of the Far East | Percival LowellMen have tried to turn "revolutionise" from a transitive to an intransitive verb.
Orthodoxy | G. K. ChestertonThe same is the case with the future passive participle of the intransitive verb.
Run is an intransitive verb, for the action mentioned is confined to the agent; he runs.
Dissertation on the English Language | Noah Webster, Jr.An intransitive verb is one which is complete in itself, or which is completed by other words without requiring an object.
An English Grammar | W. M. Baskervill and J. W. Sewell
Cultural definitions for intransitive verb
A verb that does not need a direct object to complete its meaning. Run, sleep, travel, wonder, and die are all intransitive verbs. (Compare transitive verb.)
Notes for intransitive verb
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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