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

exercise, excitation; movement, operation, evolution, work; labor &c (exertion) 686; praxis, execution; procedure &c (conduct) 692; handicraft; business &c 625; agency &c (power at work) 170. deed, act, overt act, stitch, touch, gest transaction†, job, doings, dealings, proceeding, measure, step, maneuver, bout, passage, move, stroke, blow; coup, coup de main, coup d'etat [Fr.]; tour de force &c (display) 882; feat, exploit; achievement &c (completion) 729; handiwork, workmanship; manufacture; stroke of policy &c (plan) 626. actor &c (doer) 690. V. do, perform, execute; achieve &c (complete) 729; transact, enact; commit, perpetrate, inflict; exercise, prosecute, carry on, work, practice, play. employ oneself, ply one's task; officiate, have in hand &c (business) 625; labor &c 686; be at work; pursue a course; shape one's course &c (conduct) 692. act, operate; take action, take steps; strike a blow, lift a finger, stretch forth one's hand; take in hand &c (undertake) 676; put oneself in motion; put in practice; carry into execution &c (complete) 729; act upon. be an actor &c 690; take a part in, act a part in, play a part in, perform a part in; participate in; have a hand in, have a finger in the pie; have to do with; be a party to, be a participator in; bear a hand, lend a hand; pull an oar, run in a race; mix oneself up with &c (meddle) 682. be in action; come into operation &c (power at work) 170. Adj. doing &c v.; acting; in action; in harness; on duty; in operation &c 170. Adv. in the act, in the midst of, in the thick of; red-handed, in flagrante delicto [Lat.]; while one's hand is in. Phr. action is eloquence [Coriolanus]; actions speak louder than words; actum aiunt ne agas [Terence]; awake, arise, or be forever fall'n [Paradise Lost]; dii pia facta vident [Lat.] [Ovid]; faire sans dire [Fr.]; fare fac [It]; fronte capillata post est occasio calva [Lat.]; our deeds are sometimes better than our thoughts [Bailey]; the great end of life is not knowledge but action [Huxley]; thought is the soul of act [R. Browning]; vivre-ce nest pas respirer c'est agir [Fr.]; we live in deeds not years [Bailey].