behaves

Behaves is the third-person singular present tense form of the verb behave. The verb means to act in a particular way, to conduct oneself, or to perform in a manner that is expected or appropriate for a given situation. In ordinary use, it describes manners, actions, or patterns of conduct, as in "He behaves politely" or "The device behaves as expected under normal conditions."

Grammatical notes: behave is a regular verb. Its principal forms are: base form behave, present participle behaving, past tense and past participle behaved, and third-person singular present behaves. It is primarily intransitive, taking no direct object, though it can be followed by a reflexive pronoun ("behave yourself") or describe a thing's output ("The machine behaves differently under stress").

Etymology and scope: the verb is formed from the prefix be- plus have, and traces to Early Modern English, with the core sense of acting in a manner dictated by circumstances or social norms. In contemporary usage, behaves covers social behavior, professional conduct, and, in scientific or technical writing, how a system or model operates under various conditions—often phrased as "the system behaves like..." or "the material behaves differently at higher temperatures."

See also: behavior, behaviour, misbehave, conduct. Examples include social contexts ("Children are expected to behave in class") and technical contexts ("The software behaves consistently across test cases").