noun
- manner of behaving or acting.
- Psychology, Animal Behavior.
- observable activity in a human or animal.
- the aggregate of responses to internal and external stimuli.
- a stereotyped, species-specific activity, as a courtship dance or startle reflex.
- Often behaviors. a behavior pattern.
- the action or reaction of any material under given circumstances: the behavior of tin under heat.
late 15c., essentially from behave, but with ending from Middle English havour “possession,” a word altered (by influence of have) from aver, noun use of Old French verb aveir “to have.”
n.
- The actions or reactions of persons or things in response to external or internal stimuli.
- The manner in which one behaves.
- The actions displayed by an organism in response to its environment.
- One of these actions. Certain animal behaviors (such as nest building) result from instinct, while others (such as hunting) must be learned.
- The manner in which a physical system, such as a gas, subatomic particle, or ecosystem, acts or functions, especially under specified conditions.
see on one’s best behavior.