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Synonyms

get a move on

Idioms  

  1. Also,. Hurry up; also, start working. For example, Get a move on, it's late, or Let's get cracking, kids, or It's time we got going, or The alarm went off ten minutes ago, so get rolling. The first colloquial expression dates from the late 1800s. The second term, also colloquial, employs the verb to crack in the sense of “travel with speed,” a usage dating from the early 1800s, but the idiom dates only from the first half of the 1900s. The third term dates from the late 1800s and also has other meanings; see get going. Get rolling alludes to setting wheels in motion and dates from the first half of the 1900s. Also see get busy; get on the stick.

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.

When one of the volunteers on the line serving the hot lunch into styrofoam trays falls behinds, Ortiz hectors him: Get a move on, wouldya?

From Salon • Aug. 11, 2019

The Sun reports the remark - to a schoolgirl in the Lake District - under the headline, "Get a move on Kate".

From BBC • Jul. 18, 2013

“Remember to feed the chickens. And see if we got some eggs. Get a move on now.”

From "Stella by Starlight" by Sharon M. Draper

“Well? Get a move on, Gum Baby ain’t got all day.”

From "Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky" by Kwame Mbalia

"We're leaving for the airport in half an hour so you'd better get packed. Your brother's upstairs all ready to go. Get a move on, girl! Get going!"

From "Matilda" by Roald Dahl

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.