active: Meaning and Definition of

ac•tive

Pronunciation: (ak'tiv), [key]
— adj.
  1. engaged in action; characterized by energetic work, participation, etc.; busy: an active life.
  2. being in a state of existence, progress, or motion: active hostilities.
  3. involving physical effort and action: active sports.
  4. having the power of quick motion; nimble: active as a gazelle.
  5. characterized by action, motion, volume, use, participation, etc.: an active market in wheat; an active list of subscribers.
  6. causing activity or change; capable of exerting influence (opposed to passive): active treason.
  7. effective (opposed to inert): active ingredients.
  8. noting or pertaining to a voice of verbal inflection in which typically the subject of the sentence is represented as performing the action expressed by the verb (opposed to passive):in He writes a letter every day is an active verb form. Writes
  9. requiring or giving rise to action; practical: an active course.
  10. (of a volcano) in eruption.
  11. profitable; busy: active accounts.
  12. requiring personal effort or attention; not automatic: an active alarm system.
  13. interest-bearing: active paper.
  14. acting quickly; producing immediate effects: active remedies.
  15. (of a crowd) engaging in purposeful activity, often of a militant nature. Cf. expressive (def. 4).
  16. able to transmit signals: an active communications satellite.
  17. (of a device or system) acting as a source of electrical energy, as a generator, or capable of amplifying or converting voltages or currents, as a transistor or diode.
  18. (of a solar heating system) accumulating and distributing solar heat by mechanical means.
  19. serving on active duty.
—n.
    1. the active voice.
    2. a form or construction in the active voice.
  1. an active person, member, subscriber, etc.: The circular was mailed only to the actives on our list.
  2. something showing considerable action or activity: On the stock market there was heavy trading in the actives.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.
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