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    behave

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    behave
    be‧have S3 W3 /bɪˈheɪv/ verb [intransitive]
     Word Family: noun: BEHAVIOUR/BEHAVIOR, MISBEHAVIOUR/MISBEHAVIOR, BEHAVIOURISM/BEHAVIORISM, BEHAVIOURIST/BEHAVIORIST; verb: behave, misbehave; adverb: BEHAVIOURALLY/BEHAVIORALLY; adjective: BEHAVIOURAL/BEHAVIORAL
     Date: 1400-1500
     Origin: have 'to hold or bear (yourself), behave' (14-16 centuries)
    1. [always + adverb/preposition] to do things that are good, bad, sensible etc
       SYN  act:
        She behaved in a very responsible way.
        behave towards
        I think he behaved disgracefully towards you.
        behave like
        grown men behaving like schoolboys
        behave as if/though
        He was a little boy, but he behaved as if he was an adult.
    2. (also behave yourself) to not do things that annoy or offend people
       OPP  misbehave:
        Will you children please behave!
        I hope Nicholas behaved himself at the party.
        well-behaved/badly-behaved
        a badly-behaved class
    3. [always + adverb/preposition] if something behaves in a particular way, it does those things:
        Quantum mechanics is the study of the way atoms behave.
         
    THESAURUS
       ▪ behave to do and say things that are good, bad, normal, strange etc: His teacher said he’d been behaving badly at school. | I’m not going to talk to her until she starts behaving reasonably. | Oh, be quiet! You’re behaving like a two-year-old.
       ▪ act to behave in a particular way, especially in a way that seems unusual, surprising, or annoying to other people: Tina’s been acting very strangely lately. | What makes grown people act like that?
       ▪ treat to behave towards someone or deal with someone in a particular way: She said that he’d treated her really badly throughout their two-year marriage. | I’m sick of my parents treating me like a child.
       ▪ conform to behave in the way that most other people in your group or society behave: Young people sometimes want to rebel and therefore they refuse to conform. | Society typically brings pressure on individuals and groups to conform to civilised norms.
       ▪ conduct yourself formal to behave in a particular way, especially in a situation where people will notice and judge the way you behave: Public figures have a duty to conduct themselves responsibly, even in their private lives. | By the end of the course, you should be able to conduct yourself with confidence in any meeting.