Behave

//bɪˈheɪv// verb

verb ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To conduct (oneself) well, or in a given way; to conform. reflexive

    "You need to behave yourself, young lady."

  2. 2
    behave in a certain manner; show a certain behavior; conduct or comport oneself wordnet
  3. 3
    To act, conduct oneself in a specific manner; used with an adverbial of manner. intransitive

    "He behaves like a child whenever she's around."

  4. 4
    behave well or properly wordnet
  5. 5
    To conduct, manage, regulate (something). obsolete, transitive

    "He did behave his anger ere 'twas spent."

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  1. 6
    To act in a polite or proper way. intransitive

    "His mother threatened to spank him if he didn't behave."

Synonyms

All synonyms
acquitactdeportacquitactact toward

Example

More examples

"You are old enough to behave yourself."

Etymology

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”).

Related phrases

behave oneself

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.