Meaning & use
initiate action
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Meaning
phrasefixed phrase
to begin a formal process, especially a legal one, in order to achieve a particular result.
Grammar: Often followed by 'against someone' or 'to do something': initiate action against the company.
Patterns
- initiate action against someone
- initiate legal action
- initiate action to do something
The residents decided to initiate legal action against the factory for polluting the river.
If the payment is not made within 30 days, we will initiate action to recover the debt.
The committee can initiate action only after receiving a formal complaint.
Common combinations
- initiate legal action
- They threatened to initiate legal action if the noise continued.
- initiate action against
- The regulator initiated action against three banks for misleading customers.
- initiate disciplinary action
- The school may initiate disciplinary action against students who cheat.
- initiate court action
- She had to initiate court action to get the money back.
Synonyms and how they differ
- take action
- More general and less formal; it can mean doing anything to solve a problem, not necessarily starting a legal process.
- start proceedings
- Very similar in legal contexts, but 'proceedings' is a noun and often used in the plural.
Word family
- initiation noun
- The act of starting something, such as a process or a formal ceremony.
- initiative noun
- The ability to decide and act without being told, or a new plan to solve a problem.
Commonly confused: initiate action or take action?
initiate action vs take action
'Take action' is the everyday phrase for doing something about a problem; 'initiate action' is formal and suggests starting an official or legal process.
Practice
The tenants decided to ______ against the landlord for failing to make repairs.
Choose one answer.
'Initiate action' is the fixed phrase meaning to start a formal process. 'Make action' and 'do action' are not natural English. 'Initiate an action' is possible in some legal writing, but the standard phrase without 'an' is more common and fits the blank best.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “initiate action”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.