From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Intransitive \In*tran"si*tive\, a. [L. intransitivus: cf. F.
intransitif. See {In-} not, and {Transitive}.]
1. Not passing farther; kept; detained. [R.]
[1913 Webster]
And then it is for the image's sake and so far is
intransitive; but whatever is paid more to the image
is transitive and passes further. --Jer. Taylor.
[1913 Webster]
2. (Gram.) Not transitive; not passing over to an object;
expressing an action or state that is limited to the agent
or subject, or, in other words, an action which does not
require an object to complete the sense; as, an
intransitive verb, e. g., the bird flies; the dog runs.
[1913 Webster]
Note: Intransitive verbs have no passive form. Some verbs
which appear at first sight to be intransitive are in
reality, or were originally, transitive verbs with a
reflexive or other object omitted; as, he keeps (i. e.,
himself) aloof from danger. Intransitive verbs may take
a noun of kindred signification for a cognate object;
as, he died the death of a hero; he dreamed a dream.
Some intransitive verbs, by the addition of a
preposition, become transitive, and so admit of a
passive voice; as, the man laughed at; he was laughed
at by the man.
[1913 Webster]
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
intransitive
adj 1: designating a verb that does not require or cannot take a
direct object [ant: {transitive}]
n 1: a verb (or verb construction) that does not take an object
[syn: {intransitive verb}, {intransitive verb form},
{intransitive}]
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