motion picture
Americannoun
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Movies.
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a sequence of consecutive still images photographed in a series by a specially designed camera motion-picture camera and thrown on a screen by a projector motion-picture projector in such rapid succession as to give the illusion of natural movement.
Jean Cocteau produced some of the most innovative motion pictures of the postwar era.
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such a video sequence recorded and played in other media formats, as VHS or digital video.
Critics have given mixed reviews to the new trend of feature-length motion pictures shot on smartphones.
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a story, event, or the like, presented in this form.
The motion picture is adapted from the novel of the same name.
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motion pictures, the art, technique, or business of producing motion pictures.
The Academy honors achievement in motion pictures every year at the Oscars.
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of motion picture
First recorded in 1890–95
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.
Motion picture – Musical or comedy “One Battle After Another” “No Other Choice” “Marty Supreme” “Blue Moon” “Bugonia” “Nouvelle Vague”
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 8, 2025
Motion picture academy members presumably spent the holidays unwrapping tamales, spiking the eggnog and catching up on the movies they’ve missed.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 2, 2023
Motion picture can speak a lot of words, right?
From Salon • Aug. 29, 2020
Motion picture lore teems with legends of stars who failed to achieve the superstardom predicted for them.
From The Guardian • Mar. 31, 2011
Motion picture scenario, by H. C. Witwer. © 2Aug23, A754766.
From U.S. Copyright Renewals, 1951 July - December by Library of Congress. Copyright Office
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.
