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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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
There were far fewer protesters at Jantar Mantar than on Monday, when the CJP mobilised huge crowds to march on India's parliament.
From Barron's ● Jul. 21, 2026
M&A volume has been on an inexorable march upward for a number of years, with the only major exception coming in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 21, 2026
On Monday, Wangchuk appealed to doctors to discharge him so he could join the march but was not allowed.
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026
Exhausted from the battle and the march, the British officers found the table set, just as Paul Jennings had left it.
From "In the Shadow of Liberty" by Kenneth C. Davis
The university later decided that executives hired after March 2022 would no longer participate in the program.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026
The luxury car maker has been struggling in recent years and in March announced it would cut about 600 jobs, as last year's net losses leapt by a little over 50% to £493.2m.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
It obtained a full UK banking licence from regulators in March, lifting restrictions on it competing with established retail lenders in its home market.
From Barron's ● Jul. 22, 2026
Chewy said in March it expects pet ownership to continue rising, even as shoppers grapple with inflation.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 22, 2026
On March 24, Katsunobu Sakurai, the mayor of a town near the plant, recorded an impassioned plea for help and posted it on YouTube.
From "Meltdown" by Deirdre Langeland
"The act came into force in the autumn and Ofcom gained powers to enforce in March. There doesn't seem to be any public information available on action taken against the platforms thus far."
From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2025
“Remember just a week ago markets were looking at a 50 bps rate hike in March. So they can move by 25 bps and acknowledge that they recognize the disruptions.”
From Reuters ● Mar. 13, 2023
“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
“That’s always a positive heading into March. We want to be playing our best basketball in March.”
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 22, 2023
“You three were so amazing at the benefit in March. Like professional dancers. Mrs. Atanabi was so impressed with how hard you worked, and how well you worked together.”
From "Auggie & Me" by R. J. Palacio
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.
