suit the action to the word

verb

To do what one has just proposed or spoken of.

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Meanings

verbsuit the action to the word (third-person singular simple present suits the action to the word, present participle suiting the action to the word, simple past and past participle suited the action to the word)

present singular third person suits the action to the word · participle present suiting the action to the word · participle past suited the action to the word · past suited the action to the word

  1. idiomaticTo do what one has just proposed or spoken of.

    “Hide!” cried Ebony, with a roll of his huge eyes, as he suited the action to the word, […]

    1887, R. M. Ballantyne, The Fugitives
    1 more example

    After giving vent to violent expressions of hostility, he grasped the bill in his hand and pronounced it to be a huge fraud, fit only to be spat upon, and trampled under foot—whereupon the honourable member suited the action to the word!

    2011, James Fenton, A History of Tasmania, page 347

Origin

A phrase from William Shakespeare's play Hamlet.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

suit the action to the word. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/suit%20the%20action%20to%20the%20word

MLA

“suit the action to the word.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/suit%20the%20action%20to%20the%20word. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “suit the action to the word,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/suit%20the%20action%20to%20the%20word.

Source: suit the action to the word on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.