parallel motion
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of parallel motion
First recorded in 1820–30
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“It’s three minor 9th chords in parallel motion — it’s carrying you,” says original “Everybody Loves the Sunshine” keyboardist Philip Woo.
From Los Angeles Times • May 19, 2026
At times, sound and image achieve an exhilarating synchronicity, as when stripes are hurtling across the screen and Reich’s instruments are racing in parallel motion.
From The New Yorker • May 20, 2019
Sylvester could see no reason "why the perfect parallel motion should not be employed with equal advantage in the construction of ordinary water-closets."
From Kinematics of Mechanisms from the Time of Watt by Ferguson, Eugene S.
When playing in contrary motion all unevenness, all breaks in precision and all unbalanced conditions of touch become much more evident to the ear than if the same exercises were played in parallel motion.
From Great Pianists on Piano Playing Study Talks with Foremost Virtuosos. A Series of Personal Educational Conferences with Renowned Masters of the Keyboard, Presenting the Most Modern Ideas upon the Subjects of Technic, Interpretation, Style and Expression by Cooke, James Francis
It will be seen that the three slits can be closed or opened from the centre by a parallel motion.
From Colour Measurement and Mixture by Abney, W. de W.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.