asterisk action

An action that takes place on a forum or message board to indicate, normally in third person, that the character being controlled by the poster has done an action. These actions are placed in a set of asterisks. If in response to someone's post, that normally means that they are the direct object of that action.

Not to be confused with asterisk expression. Asterisk expressions run along the lines of: *sigh* *cough* or *sneeze* If you were to add an "s" to any of those, it would be an action.