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.
The annual Governors Awards, launched in 2009, recognize lifetime achievement and significant contributions to filmmaking and the motion picture industry.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 10, 2026
The first facility being built with the construction incentive program is called 1888 Studios, named for the year Edison filed his patent for the motion picture camera.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 28, 2026
To display his photographs in rapid succession, Muybridge invented a device that birthed the motion picture.
From Slate • May 25, 2026
Millions and millions of dollars are poured into the sprawling motion picture economy of Los Angeles to drum up support for the year’s Academy Award nominees.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 15, 2026
During his second year in medical school, he rigged a microscope with a time-lapse motion picture camera to capture live cells on film.
From "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot
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.
