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
“I don’t think stop motion will ever be as big as cel or computers,” he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 5, 2024
“It’s so good to know this art form we love so much — stop motion — is very much alive and well,” said co-director Mark Gustafson.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 12, 2023
Based on Elizabeth Beresford's books, the stop motion animation series ran for 60 episodes with Cribbins voicing all of the environmentally friendly characters.
From BBC ● Jul. 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
Watching the stop-motion monsters climb over ruined walls to poke at Greece’s elite soldiers, it’s easy to forgive the movie for its less-than-stellar dubbing or borderline nonsensical love story.
From Salon ● Sep. 4, 2026
Founded by school friends Sir Peter Lord and Sir David Sproxton in 1976, Aardman has given us Morph, Wallace and Gromit, Shaun the Sheep and Chicken Run, the world's most successful stop-motion film.
From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2026
No-one had ever made a 90-minute stop-motion feature from modelling clay.
From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2026
He was instrumental in doing the stop-motion miniature chess scene in “Star Wars: A New Hope,” bringing the Imperial Walkers to life and creating aliens like Jabba the Hutt and tauntauns.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 31, 2026
He’d relaxed into his normal self now and was describing the new stop-motion video he was in the middle of making.
From "Book Scavenger" by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman
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.
