1.
[syn: intransitive verb, intransitive verb form, intransitive]
ADJECTIVE (1)
1. designating a verb that does not require or cannot take a direct object;
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Intransitive \In*tran"si*tive\, a. [L. intransitivus: cf. F.
intransitif. See In- not, and Transitive.]
1. Not passing farther; kept; detained. [R.]
[1913 Webster]
And then it is for the image's sake and so far is
intransitive; but whatever is paid more to the image
is transitive and passes further. --Jer. Taylor.
[1913 Webster]
2. (Gram.) Not transitive; not passing over to an object;
expressing an action or state that is limited to the agent
or subject, or, in other words, an action which does not
require an object to complete the sense; as, an
intransitive verb, e. g., the bird flies; the dog runs.
[1913 Webster]
Note: Intransitive verbs have no passive form. Some verbs
which appear at first sight to be intransitive are in
reality, or were originally, transitive verbs with a
reflexive or other object omitted; as, he keeps (i. e.,
himself) aloof from danger. Intransitive verbs may take
a noun of kindred signification for a cognate object;
as, he died the death of a hero; he dreamed a dream.
Some intransitive verbs, by the addition of a
preposition, become transitive, and so admit of a
passive voice; as, the man laughed at; he was laughed
at by the man.
[1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
intransitive
adj 1: designating a verb that does not require or cannot take a
direct object [ant: transitive]
n 1: a verb (or verb construction) that does not take an object
[syn: intransitive verb, intransitive verb form,
intransitive]
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:
36 Moby Thesaurus words for "intransitive":
adjectival, adverbial, attributive, auxiliary, auxiliary verb,
conjunctive, copula, copulative, correct, defective verb,
deponent verb, finite verb, formal, functional, glossematic,
grammatic, impersonal verb, infinitive, intransitive verb, linking,
linking verb, modal auxiliary, neuter verb, nominal, participial,
postpositional, prepositional, pronominal, structural, substantive,
syntactic, tagmemic, transitive, verb, verb phrase, verbal