act out

present singular third person acts out · participle present acting out · participle past acted out · past acted out

1. transitiveTo perform something specific.

   What was acted out in the American and French Revolutions had been thought out beforehand in the writings of Locke and Rousseau, the scenarists for the drama of modern politics.

   1987, Allan Bloom, The Closing of the American Mind: How Higher Education Has Failed Democracy and Impoverished the Souls of Today's Students

   Synonyms: enact

   1. idiomatictransitiveTo perform a scene from a play, a charade or an exercise.

      Despite already being aware, he will be acting out the pretence of a surprise.

      Synonyms: enact

   2. idiomatictransitiveTo perform a fantasy in reality.

      I've wanted to do this for so long, but I never thought I could act it out.

      Synonyms: enact

2. To express internal feelings or thoughts.
   1. ambitransitiveTo express one's feelings through disruptive actions.

      I know you're angry, but you can't act out and break dishes like that.

   2. ambitransitiveTo express ideas or desires through actions rather than words.

      When her jaw was wired shut, she had acted out what she needed.

3. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see act, out.

   She's a street performer, so she acts out on Ninth Street.