in the act (of doing something)
idiom
: in the process of doing something
When they arrived, I was just in the act of starting to make dinner.
Examples of in the act (of doing something) in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
When combined with vessel detection devices such as AIS, GRACE provides real-time information on the likelihood of a particular ship committing environmental crimes, which can be used by enforcement agencies to catch the criminals in the act.
—
Karen Bakker, Smithsonian Magazine, 25 Apr. 2024
However, the recent team managed to catch a supernova in the act, just 22 million light-years from Earth (which is not so far as far as galaxies are concerned).
—Isaac Schultz / Gizmodo, Quartz, 28 Mar. 2024
When William and Kate had the audacity to visit a farm store, in Windsor, and the misfortune to be filmed in the act, the visual testimony was swiftly picked apart.
—Anthony Lane, The New Yorker, 22 Mar. 2024
Visser, hired to catch a cheating spouse and her lover in the act, ends up double-crossing and killing his client, emptying his safe and framing the wife for the murder.
—Chris Koseluk, The Hollywood Reporter, 20 Mar. 2024
It’s all arrayed in the quirky service of a story that’s as interested in the act of archiving as in the meaning of the archive: To collect, to hold, to interpret, Conley’s wonderfully curious robots seem to be saying, is inevitably to merge the subject into the self.
—Trey Graham, Washington Post, 18 Apr. 2024
The police report, according to both outlets, states that the Japanese police cyber patrol caught Yamakawa in the act of taking orders.
—Amrita Khalid, The Verge, 12 Apr. 2024
Something in the act of writing, sending and waiting days or weeks for a reply, and in the physical and social challenges experienced by our daughter at a distance, is changing all of our personal operating systems.
—Damien Cave, New York Times, 22 Mar. 2024
There is artistry, too, of course, in the act of cooking pasta, coaxing them along a textural spectrum between toothsomeness and pliancy.
—Helen Rosner, The New Yorker, 10 Mar. 2024
Karen Bakker, Smithsonian Magazine, 25 Apr. 2024
However, the recent team managed to catch a supernova in the act, just 22 million light-years from Earth (which is not so far as far as galaxies are concerned).
—Isaac Schultz / Gizmodo, Quartz, 28 Mar. 2024
When William and Kate had the audacity to visit a farm store, in Windsor, and the misfortune to be filmed in the act, the visual testimony was swiftly picked apart.
—Anthony Lane, The New Yorker, 22 Mar. 2024
Visser, hired to catch a cheating spouse and her lover in the act, ends up double-crossing and killing his client, emptying his safe and framing the wife for the murder.
—Chris Koseluk, The Hollywood Reporter, 20 Mar. 2024
It’s all arrayed in the quirky service of a story that’s as interested in the act of archiving as in the meaning of the archive: To collect, to hold, to interpret, Conley’s wonderfully curious robots seem to be saying, is inevitably to merge the subject into the self.
—Trey Graham, Washington Post, 18 Apr. 2024
The police report, according to both outlets, states that the Japanese police cyber patrol caught Yamakawa in the act of taking orders.
—Amrita Khalid, The Verge, 12 Apr. 2024
Something in the act of writing, sending and waiting days or weeks for a reply, and in the physical and social challenges experienced by our daughter at a distance, is changing all of our personal operating systems.
—Damien Cave, New York Times, 22 Mar. 2024
There is artistry, too, of course, in the act of cooking pasta, coaxing them along a textural spectrum between toothsomeness and pliancy.
—Helen Rosner, The New Yorker, 10 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'in the act (of doing something).' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near in the act (of doing something)
Cite this Entry
“In the act (of doing something).” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/in%20the%20act%20%28of%20doing%20something%29. Accessed 3 May. 2024.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share