movement

American  

[moov-muhnt] / ˈmuv mənt /

noun

• movements
  plural

1. the act, process, or result of moving.

   Antonyms:

   stasis, inertia

2. a particular manner or style of moving.

3. Usually movements. actions or activities, as of a person or a body of persons.

4. Military, Naval. a change of position or location of troops or ships.

5. abundance of events or incidents.

   Synonyms:

   eventfulness

6. rapid progress of events.

7. the progress of events, as in a narrative or drama.

8. Fine Arts. the suggestion of motion in a work of art, either by represented gesture in figurative painting or sculpture or by the relationship of structural elements in a design or composition.

9. a progressive development of ideas toward a particular conclusion.

   the movement of his thought.

10. a series of actions or activities intended or tending toward a particular end.

    the movement toward universal suffrage.

11. the course, tendency, or trend of affairs in a particular field.

12. a diffusely organized or heterogeneous group of people or organizations tending toward or favoring a generalized common goal.

    the antislavery movement; the realistic movement in art.

13. the price change in the market of some commodity or security.

    an upward movement in the price of butter.

14. bowel movement.

15. the working parts or a distinct portion of the working parts of a mechanism, as of a watch.

16. Music.

    1. a principal division or section of a sonata, symphony, or the like.

    2. motion; rhythm; time; tempo.

17. Prosody. rhythmical structure or character.

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movement British  

/ ˈmuːvmənt /

noun

1. 1. the act, process, or result of moving

   2. an instance of moving

2. the manner of moving

3. 1. a group of people with a common ideology, esp a political or religious one

   2. the organized action of such a group

4. a trend or tendency in a particular sphere

5. the driving and regulating mechanism of a watch or clock

6. (often plural) a person's location and activities during a specific time

7. 1. the evacuation of the bowels

   2. the matter evacuated

8. music a principal self-contained section of a symphony, sonata, etc, usually having its own structure

9. tempo or pace, as in music or literature

10. fine arts the appearance of motion in painting, sculpture, etc

11. prosody the rhythmic structure of verse

12. a positional change by one or a number of military units

13. a change in the market price of a security or commodity

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movement Cultural  

1. In music, a self-contained division of a long work; each movement usually has its own tempo. A long, undivided composition is said to be in one movement.

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Synonym Usage

See motion.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• countermovement
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• movements
  plural

Etymology

Origin of movement

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Middle French; see move, -ment

Explanation

The noun movement means a change of position or location. If you're watching a play, you might notice that an actor's repeated movement from one side of the stage to the other shows her character's nervousness. A campaign to create some change or achieve a goal is another kind of movement, like the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 60s. A major section of a musical piece is also called a movement. Each movement of a symphony can have a different tempo and feel, working to build the piece toward a dramatic finish. Beethoven's Fifth Symphony has four movements.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

movement movements

The contrasting artifacts reflect a village connected to a broader network of movement and exchange.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 22, 2026

Kent later said the group was attempting to build a new anti-war political movement and had encouraged Carlson to run for president in 2028.

From Salon ● Aug. 22, 2026

Mukhopadhyay says the #FixTheSchool campaign is an obvious next step and "the way people have contributed with videos, pointing out flaws in school infrastructure, is evidence that the movement is gaining ground".

From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026

The test will lie in what happens to Dubai’s Iran-linked exchange houses, money-service businesses, trade companies and beneficial-ownership networks, as well as the movement of cash and high-value goods.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026

I got to see and feel the energy that came with the start of a movement, the start of national change.

From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold

To investigate what the region may have looked like hundreds of millions of years ago, the team combined reconstructions of plate tectonic movements with data showing how landscapes evolve through time.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 21, 2026

Iran has also relied on a shadow fleet of older tankers to transport sanctioned crude while masking the vessels’ movements and ownership structures.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026

Rather than focusing on explosive, fast-paced movements, tai chi is generally composed of slow, smooth, continuous movements staying within a modest range of motion.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026

"Counter-terrorism police and Prevent are excellent at deprogramming children who have been caught into ideological movements," she told BBC Radio 4's World at One programme.

From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026

It was still dark, but I could just make out the shadowy movements of something farther up the road.

From "Rump: The (Fairly) True Story of Rumpelstilskin" by Liesl Shurtliff

Related Words

• change
• crusade
• demonstration
• evolution
• faction
• flow
• group
• organization
• party
• shift
• tendency
• transfer
• trend
• unrest