to walk with regular and measured tread, as soldiers on parade; advance in step in an organized body.
to walk in a stately, deliberate manner.
The graduates marched to the front of the auditorium to the music of “Pomp and Circumstance.”
to engage in a procession organized as a demonstration of protest or support (sometimes followed byon ).
During the trade talks, thousands marched in support of farmers and the farming industry.
Municipal workers marched on city hall to protest cuts in garbage collection.
to move aggressively toward a place in preparation for confrontation or battle (followed byon ).
The angry mob marched on the Bastille.
to go forward; advance; proceed.
Time marches on.
the act or course of marching.
the distance covered in a single period of marching.
The edge of the desert is three days' march away.
forward movement; advance; progress.
The unrestrained march of science and technology may have some alarming social consequences.
a piece of music with a rhythm suited to accompany marching.
a procession organized as a demonstration of protest or support.
There were antiwar marches in major cities across the nation.
On July 29 there will be a march for universal healthcare.
on the march, moving ahead; progressing; advancing.
Automation is on the march.
steal a march on, to gain an advantage over, especially secretly or slyly.
a tract of land along a border of a country; frontier.
marches, the border districts between England and Scotland, or England and Wales.
Francis Andrew, 1825–1911, U.S. philologist and lexicographer.
Fredric Frederick McIntyre Bickel, 1897–1975, U.S. actor.
Peyton Conway 1864–1955, U.S. army officer (son of Francis Andrew March).
German name of the Morava.
(intr) to walk or proceed with stately or regular steps, usually in a procession or military formation
(tr) to make (a person or group) proceed
he marched his army to the town
(tr) to traverse or cover by marching
to march a route
the act or an instance of marching
a regular stride
a slow march
a long or exhausting walk
advance; progression (of time, etc)
a distance or route covered by marching
a piece of music, usually in four beats to the bar, having a strongly accented rhythm
to gain an advantage over, esp by a secret or underhand enterprise
What happens in March? March is the third month of the year. It follows February and is followed by April. It has 31 days. March is notable because it is one of the two times a year when an equinox occurs. Around March 20–21, the vernal equinox marks the beginning of spring in the Northern Hemisphere and the autumnal equinox marks the beginning of fall in the Southern Hemisphere. (The reverse happens around September 22–23.)In places where spring begins in March, the proverb March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb is used to refer to the fact that the month often begins with harsh winter weather that eventually gives way to mild spring weather. In the U. S., March also includes the day on which people in many places adjust their clocks for daylight-saving time by setting them an hour later. March is Women’s History Month and March 8 is International Women’s Day. In the U. S., St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated on March 17. The U. S. college basketball tournament known as March Madness starts in March. The word march is also a common word meaning “to walk in a military formation” or “to walk in a purposeful way.” It’s not related to the name of the month. Example: We had a blizzard last week and now people are walking around in shorts—that’s March weather for you.
First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English marchen, from Middle French marcher, Old French marchi(e)r “to tread, move,” from Frankish markōn (unattested) presumably, “to mark, pace out (a boundary)”; see mark 1
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English march(e), from Anglo-French, Old French, from Germanic; compare Old English gemearc, Gothic marka “boundary”; see mark 1
before 1050; Middle English March ( e ) < Anglo-French Marche; replacing Old English Martius < Latin, short for Mārtius mēnsis month of Mars ( Mārti-, stem of Mārs + -us adj. suffix)
To march is to walk with deliberate, short steps that fall in a regular rhythm. You can take your time walking into school in the morning, or you can march right up the steps and through the door. People can march just about anywhere they walk, although the verb brings to mind military processions of soldiers who march in unison. Marching bands are another example of people who march together this way. You can also use the word when you're talking about a group of demonstrators who decide to march in protest or support of a particular cause. March comes from the Middle French word marcher, which originally meant "to trample," and later came to mean "to walk."
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And it prepares us for the march of aging that none of us can escape.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
At one stage, the protesters tried to march but were turned back by police.
From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2026
But governments answer, eventually, to publics—and a public that has stood shoulder to shoulder with the people it was taught to fear is harder to march to war.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
Tens of thousands of protesters, most of them young students, gathered at Jantar Mantar in the heart of the Indian capital after a call to march to the parliament by the CJP.
From Barron's ● Jul. 22, 2026
For music, the entire chorus of The Nutcracker began to hum the wedding march.
From "Secrets at Sea" by Richard Peck
However, Zidane returned to Madrid in March 2019 with the club in poor form, and won another Spanish league title in 2019-20.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
I was fortunate enough to be present for her last performance of Peter Lieberson’s “Neruda Songs” at the Kennedy Center in March 2006.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
As former Fed Chair Jerome Powell said at his March press conference, central bankers typically look through temporary energy shocks when setting interest rates.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026
With European competition beginning in December there are four Prem rounds across six weeks until January, before a 10-week league pause again in February and March for the Six Nations.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
“Credit quality always gets better in March and April,” said Eisman.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
"I am sorry to tell you that the report will be published later than March. That is not what I had intended," added Sir Brian.
From BBC ● Jan. 17, 2024
“It’s March. You know it’s a good time of year, beautiful time of year,” Purdue guard Brandon Newman said, “and there’s going to be a lot of close games.”
From Washington Times ● Mar. 7, 2023
"It might put pressure on whether they go 50 basis points in March. That's going to be a debate for the market. Do they increase the magnitude of hikes? That will be in focus."
From Reuters ● Feb. 24, 2023
“That’s always a positive heading into March. We want to be playing our best basketball in March.”
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 22, 2023
“Yeah, march. That’s the only way to please him. March. March.”
From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller
A review published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases in MArch analyzed 13 PrEP studies covering 5,000 participants.
From The Guardian ● Oct. 21, 2018
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.
