act on

Verb

act on (third-person singular simple present acts on, present participle acting on, simple past and past participle acted on)

1. To act decisively on the basis of information received or deduced.
   • The policeman decided to act on the tip from his informant.
2. To act accordingly to a (usually sublimated) desire or impulse.
   • He keeps telling me about wanting to make a move, but he hasn't worked up to acting on it yet.
3. To take action against something.
   • World leaders have repeatedly stated that we must act on climate change.
4. To affect something.
   • Different drugs act on different parts of our body in many different ways.
5. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see act, on.