reaction

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   The way you behave or feel because of something that has happened.

   The announcement of the verdict brought a violent reaction.

2. 2
   noun

   A bad physical response of the body to a substance such as medicine or food.

   She had a bad reaction to the medicine.

3. 3
   noun

   (chemistry) A process in which substances change into other substances.

   There was a chemical reaction between the lime and the water.

4. 4
   noun

   Behaviour or attitudes that develop in opposition to something earlier.

   This style of painting was a reaction against cubism.

Inherited from Middle English reaccion, from Old French reaction, from Latin reāctiō, from the verb reagō, from re- (“again”) + agō (“to act”); more at re-, action; equivalent to react + -ion.

Topics