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

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

This is not meant to be glib, or not really; there was true mastery in the act, utter focus and kinetic intuition. —Rachel Syme, The New Yorker, 8 Mar. 2024

Hawkins said active surveillance to catch crime tourists in the act was happening seven days a week in conjunction with other Valley police departments. —The Arizona Republic, 28 Feb. 2024

Scientists had never caught the volcanoes in the act—until a study published last year found new evidence among old images. —Shi En Kim, Smithsonian Magazine, 14 Feb. 2024

There is even grainy cell phone video that purports to catch Kry in the act. —Erika Fry, Fortune, 27 Jan. 2024

But in some species that do require mating to have offspring, such as sheep and rodents, scientists have observed individuals that don't appear driven to engage in the act. —Allison Parshall, Scientific American, 14 Dec. 2023

Aramairon Perez shared on Instagram footage from her Nest doorbell video camera of the thief in the act on November 9. —Sarah Rumpf-Whitten, Fox News, 15 Nov. 2023