Roget's Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases by Peter Mark Roget

office, maintenance, exercise, work, swing, play; interworking†, interaction; procurement. causation &c 153; instrumentality &c 631; influence &c 175; action &c (voluntary) 680; modus operandi &c 627. quickening power, maintaining power, sustaining power; home stroke. V. be in action &c adj.; operate, work; act, act upon; perform, play, support, sustain, strain, maintain, take effect, quicken, strike. come play, come bring into operation; have play, have free play; bring to bear upon. Adj. operative, efficient, efficacious, practical, effectual. at work, on foot; acting &c (doing) 680; in operation, in force, in action, in play, in exercise; acted upon, wrought upon. Adv. by the agency of, &c n.; through &c (instrumentality) 631; by means of &c 632. Phr. I myself must mix with action lest I wither by despair [Tennyson].