A couple of people have suggested that the presence (or absence) of brackets in a verb's definition is an indicator of whether it can take an object or not. I asked Marc Okrand about this, and this was his reply. --- begin quote --- There is no convention or system or pattern governing the use (or non-use) of parentheses (or brackets) in definitions (in TKD or elsewhere). The enclosed words are there just to help clarify the meanings of the words. Admittedly, sometimes things are more clear than other times and usage questions remain. --- end quote --- He also said he'll think more about this closer to the {qep'a'}. I hope that means we'll receive some more information about verb transitivity then. -- De'vID