How to Use in the act (of doing something) in a Sentence

in the act (of doing something)

idiom
Definition of in the act (of doing something)next
  • The two then came up with a plan to catch him in the act.
    — Muri Assunção, New York Daily News, 30 July 2024
  • Nearly half of shoplifters (48%) have been caught in the act.
    — Daniel De Visé, USA TODAY, 12 Aug. 2024
  • But this is the first time scientists caught a star in the act.
    — Darren Orf, Popular Mechanics, 2 June 2023
  • There is even grainy cell phone video that purports to catch Kry in the act.
    — Erika Fry, Fortune, 27 Jan. 2024
  • Suman catches her in the act, and the two women chat about their grief.
    — Erin Qualey, Vulture, 29 May 2024
  • All of it was aimed at one thing: stopping a gunman in the act.
    — New York Times, 31 July 2022
  • The women have been told that demons were to blame, until one man is caught in the act.
    — Bill Goodykoontz, The Arizona Republic, 4 Jan. 2023
  • The oldest tree ever known was killed in the act of knowing.
    — Jared Farmer, Smithsonian Magazine, 3 Jan. 2023
  • The clerk thanked the women for taking part in the act of charity.
    — Michael Williams, Dallas News, 24 Aug. 2023
  • Some leaders in the country have voiced support for those caught in the act.
    — Abdi Latif Dahir, New York Times, 17 Oct. 2023
  • Tonight’s biggest play of the game came when the Jazz cut the Wizards’ lead to six, and then Gay fouled a Kuzma in the act of a three.
    — Andy Larsen, The Salt Lake Tribune, 13 Nov. 2022
  • The following year, police caught a rapist in the act and sampled his DNA.
    — cleveland, 17 Sep. 2023
  • The referees ruled Wood was in the act of shooting and awarded her two free throws.
    — Matt Le Cren, Chicago Tribune, 2 Feb. 2023
  • Would her principal chase her around town trying to catch her in the act?
    — Lauren Brown West-Rosenthal, Parents, 7 Aug. 2023
  • When police arrived, all four suspects were still in the act of robbing the store.
    — Ellie Willard, The Arizona Republic, 27 Mar. 2023
  • For each of them, there’s an underlying sense of play in the act of getting dressed.
    — Kaitlyn Greenidge, Harper's BAZAAR, 5 Feb. 2023
  • As the straight man in the act, Weissmuller performed classic dives from the ten-meter platform.
    — David O. Stewart, Smithsonian Magazine, 31 July 2024
  • The camera pans to Abu Hamdan, who is in the act of the ultimate British gesture: sipping a cup of tea.
    — Doreen St. Félix, The New Yorker, 15 July 2024
  • But no star has ever been caught in the act of gulping down a planet this way—until now.
    — Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 3 May 2023
  • Scientists have wanted to catch these emitters in the act.
    — Bypaul Voosen, science.org, 3 Feb. 2023
  • In this picture frozen in time from more than 300 million years ago, the two galaxies on the bottom right are caught in the act of merging.
    — Los Angeles Times, 12 July 2022
  • She was imprisoned for six months in 1923, having been caught in the act of mailing the offending items.
    — Anna Mundow, WSJ, 15 Dec. 2023
  • McMahon’s wife, Linda, and their adult children, Shane and Stephanie, took on various roles in the act, too.
    — Dan Greene, The New Yorker, 31 Mar. 2023
  • Many undercover officers worked all night on the streets, hoping to catch the shooter in the act.
    — Stephanie Pagones, Fox News, 10 Aug. 2022
  • Their elderly hosts, however, catch them in the act and have … other plans.
    — Andy Meek, BGR, 31 Oct. 2022
  • At one point, Jensen said, the police bureau deployed a series of overnight missions to attempt to catch burglars in the act.
    — oregonlive, 19 June 2022
  • Drone footage captures the military in the act of burning down Let Htoke Taw village in the southern Sagaing region.
    — Weiyi Cai, New York Times, 31 July 2023
  • Unfortunately for Clark, an usher at the arena caught him in the act.
    — Giovana Gelhoren, PEOPLE.com, 25 June 2022
  • Online retailers such as Wayfair are getting in the act with showroom-style stores of their own.
    — The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 12 Aug. 2024
  • This new system is about 8,000 light years away from Earth and is made up of a central black hole that is in the act of consuming a small star spiraling very close to it.
    — Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 23 Oct. 2024

Some of 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.

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