Intransitive

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  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]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  intransitive
       adj : designating a verb that does not require or cannot take a
             direct object [ant: {transitive}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  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