behave

verbcommon in dialogue

United Kingdom//bᵻˈheɪv//
United States//bɪˈheɪv//
United States//bi-//
United States//bə-//

To conduct (oneself) well, or in a given way; to conform.

verb

1
To conduct (oneself) well, or in a given way; to conform.
You need to behave yourself, young lady.
And the manifest signs that came from heaven unto those that behaved themselves manfully to their honour for Judaism[…]
2
To act, conduct oneself in a specific manner; used with an adverbial of manner.
He behaves like a child whenever she's around.
How did the students behave while I was gone?
My laptop has been behaving erratically ever since you borrowed it.
Manganism has been known about since the 19th century, when miners exposed to ores containing manganese, a silvery metal, began to totter, slur their speech and behave like someone inebriated.
3
obsoleteTo conduct, manage, regulate (something).
He did behave his anger ere 'twas spent.
But who his limbs with labours, and his mind / Behaues with cares, cannot so easie mis.
4
To act in a polite or proper way.
His mother threatened to spank him if he didn't behave.
One time when Willie was more set on clowning than on learning about Jesus, Miss Helen ordered, "Willie Mack, you stand up against the wall until you learn to behave."

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₁ep-der. Proto-Indo-European *h₁épsder. Proto-Indo-European *h₁epider. Proto-Indo-European *h₁pi Proto-Germanic *bider. Proto-Germanic *bi- Proto-West Germanic *bi- substratebor.? Proto-Indo-European *kap-der. Proto-Germanic *habjaną Proto-West Germanic *habbjan Proto-West Germanic *bihabbjan Old English behabban Middle English behaven English behave From Middle English behaven, bihabben (“to restrain, behave”), from Old English behabban (“to surround, embrace, hold, contain, hold back, withhold, restrain”), from Proto-West Germanic *bihabbjan, equivalent to be- + have. Cognate with Middle Low German behebben, behāven (“to receive, acquire, reach, keep”), Low German behebben (“to act, behave”), German behaben (“to behave”).

Forms

past tense: behaved
past participle: behaved
present participle: behaving
third person singular: behaves

begun · Having began.Begun · A surname.behalf · The interest, benefit, or wellbeing of someone or something.

behave · To conduct (oneself) well, or in a given way; to conform.

behaved · Exhibiting the specified kind of behaviour.behaving · Behaviour.behavior · Human conduct relative to social norms.

The neighbouring pages — Alphabetical order follows the rules of the language, not byte values: an accent decides only between two otherwise identical words, and Spanish files Ñ as a letter of its own.