From Richard Nordquist,
Your Guide to Grammar & Composition.
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Definition:

A verb that does not take a direct object.

Etymology:

From the Latin, "not passing across"

Examples and Observations:

• "My heart aches, and a drowsy numbness pains
  My sense, as though of hemlock I had drunk."
  (John Keats, "Ode to a Nightingale")


• "If you fell down yesterday, stand up today."
  (H. G. Wells)


• "Men blush less for their crimes than for their weaknesses and vanity."
  (Jean de la Bruyere)


• "Sometimes imagination pounces; mostly it sleeps soundly in the corner, purring."
  (Leslie Grimutter)


• "Do not tremble in fear but become strong and courageous instead."
  (Yajur Veda)


• "Hush my darling, don't fear my darling, the lion sleeps tonight."
  (Solomon Linda, "Wimoweh")


• "Autos honked. Trees rustled. People passed. Arnie went out."
  (Langston Hughes, The Ways of White Folks)

Pronunciation: in-TRANS-i-tiv verb