Also called stop frame. the process of filming puppets and other objects one frame at a time while incrementally moving or modifying them, giving the illusion of lifelike motion when the captured film frames are viewed in rapid sequence (often used attributively): a stop-motion film.
stop-motion animation;
a stop-motion film.
Also called stop action. a special effect in cinematography, carried out while shooting, in which the performers stop their motion and the camera is stopped while an object or performer is added to or removed from the scene, with camera movement and action then resumed for the remainder of the scene: used to create an illusion of sudden appearance or disappearance of persons or objects (often used attributively).
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The breakup of a plate doesn't just stop motion -- it reshapes the planet.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 25, 2025
That appreciation for the craft of stop motion, inevitably susceptible to human excellence and error, propelled Gustafson throughout his career.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 5, 2024
Rebecca Atkinson is hoping her stop motion creation, Mixmups, is going to be just that.
From BBC ● Oct. 29, 2023
Later, on a stop motion stage, they would project that clean plate behind the stop-motion objects, taking pains to recreate the exact lighting of the original shoot, so all the elements would match.
From New York Times ● Jun. 28, 2022
Operating procedure when a storm hits is to stop motion and wait for the storm to pass.
From "The Martian" by Andy Weir
The movie is directed by Travis Knight — chief executive of stop-motion studio Laika who also led the 2018 “Transformers” spin-off “Bumblebee” — who Brenner said “nailed” the narrative’s tone.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 4, 2026
The 29-year-old video editor was also commissioned to create a stop-motion animation—her “passion project”— for an upcoming event.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 23, 2026
From the same studio that created the “Wallace & Gromit,” “Shaun the Sheep” and “Chicken Run” films comes a different type of stop-motion animation that trades smooth plasticine for the warmer, more tactile needle felting.
From Salon ● Dec. 24, 2025
Wolfhard used stop-motion animation to conjure the late Beatle in a garden come to life at his Friar Park estate.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 22, 2025
Turn his body into real life stop-motion animation.
From "Sunny" by Jason Reynolds
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.
