movement

[ moov-muhnt ]
See synonyms for: movementmovements on Thesaurus.com

noun
  1. the act, process, or result of moving.

  2. a particular manner or style of moving.

  1. Usually movements. actions or activities, as of a person or a body of persons.

  2. Military, Naval. a change of position or location of troops or ships.

  3. abundance of events or incidents.

  4. rapid progress of events.

  5. the progress of events, as in a narrative or drama.

  6. Fine Arts. the suggestion of motion in a work of art, either by represented gesture in figurative painting or sculpture or by the relationship of structural elements in a design or composition.

  7. a progressive development of ideas toward a particular conclusion: the movement of his thought.

  8. a series of actions or activities intended or tending toward a particular end: the movement toward universal suffrage.

  9. the course, tendency, or trend of affairs in a particular field.

  10. a diffusely organized or heterogeneous group of people or organizations tending toward or favoring a generalized common goal: the antislavery movement; the realistic movement in art.

  11. the price change in the market of some commodity or security: an upward movement in the price of butter.

  12. the working parts or a distinct portion of the working parts of a mechanism, as of a watch.

  13. Music.

    • a principal division or section of a sonata, symphony, or the like.

    • motion; rhythm; time; tempo.

  14. Prosody. rhythmical structure or character.

Origin of movement

1
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Middle French; see move, -ment

synonym study For movement

1. See motion.

Other words for movement

Opposites for movement

Other words from movement

  • coun·ter·move·ment, noun

Words Nearby movement

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use movement in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for movement

movement

/ (ˈmuːvmənt) /


noun
    • the act, process, or result of moving

    • an instance of moving

  1. the manner of moving

    • a group of people with a common ideology, esp a political or religious one

    • the organized action of such a group

  1. a trend or tendency in a particular sphere

  2. the driving and regulating mechanism of a watch or clock

  3. (often plural) a person's location and activities during a specific time

    • the evacuation of the bowels

    • the matter evacuated

  4. music a principal self-contained section of a symphony, sonata, etc, usually having its own structure

  5. tempo or pace, as in music or literature

  6. fine arts the appearance of motion in painting, sculpture, etc

  7. prosody the rhythmic structure of verse

  8. a positional change by one or a number of military units

  9. a change in the market price of a security or commodity

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for movement

movement

In music, a self-contained division of a long work; each movement usually has its own tempo. A long, undivided composition is said to be in one movement.

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.