mo·tion (m  sh n)n.1. The act or process of changing position or place. 2. A meaningful or expressive change in the position of the body or a part of the body; a gesture. 3. Active operation: set the plan in motion. 4. The ability or power to move: lost motion in his arm. 5. The manner in which the body moves, as in walking. 6. A prompting from within; an impulse or inclination: resigned of her own motion. 7. Music Melodic ascent and descent of pitch. 8. Law An application made to a court for an order or a ruling. 9. A formal proposal put to the vote under parliamentary procedures. 10. a. A mechanical device or piece of machinery that moves or causes motion; a mechanism. b. The movement or action of such a device. v. mo·tioned, mo·tion·ing, mo·tions v.tr. To direct by making a gesture: motioned us to our seats. v.intr. To signal by making a gesture: motioned to her to enter. Idiom: go through the motions To do something in a mechanical manner indicative of a lack of interest or involvement.
[Middle English mocioun, from Old French motion, from Latin mti, mtin-, from mtus, past participle of mov re, to move; see meu- in Indo-European roots.] |
motion Noun 1. the process of continual change in the position of an object; movement: the motion of the earth round the sun Related adjective kinetic 2. a movement or gesture: he made stabbing motions with the spear 3. a way or style of moving: massage the back with steady circular motions 4. a formal proposal to be discussed and voted on in a debate or meeting 5. Brit a. the evacuation of the bowels b. excrement 6. go through the motions to do something mechanically or without sincerity 7. set in motion to make operational or start functioning Verb to signal or direct a person by a movement or gesture: she motioned to me to sit down [Latin movere to move] motionless adj
Motionthe tendency of some plants to grow in a direction away from the sun. the tendency of some plants to grow away from the earth and the pull of gravity. — apogeotropic, adj. slowness of movement. — bradykinetic, adj. the property of some plants and animals of moving toward or away from certain chemicals. growth or motion in response to a chemical stimulus. — chemotropic, adj. the capacity or tendency of some plants to adopt a position transverse to the line of force of an external stimulus. — diatropic, adj. kinetophobia. growth or movement of an organism in response to an electric current. — galvanotropic, adj. the movement of an organism in response to the force of gravity. the study of the motion of bodies considered independently of external forces. Also called phoronomy. — kinematic, adj. a mania for movement. the branch of physics that studies the motion of masses in relation to the forces acting on them. an abnormal fear or dislike of motion. Also called dromophobia. kinematics. movement of bodies, organisms, etc., in response to the stimulus of light. — photokinetic, adj. the movement of an organism away from or toward a source of light. — phototactic, adj. motion in a particular direction under the stimulus of light, as exhibited by certain plants, organisms, etc. — phototropic, adj. the tendency of certain living things to move in response to the mechanical stimulus of a current of water. orientation or movement of an organism in response to the stimulus of a solid object. Cf. stereotropism. — stereotactic, adj. growth or movement determined by contact with a solid. Also called thigmotropism. Cf. stereotaxis. — stereotropic, adj. an abnormal fear of speed. stereotropism. — thigmotropic, adj. Rare. the science of rotary motion. — trochilic, adj. the movement of cells in relation to food or nutritive matter. — trophotropic, adj. the tendency of a plant, animal, or part to move or turn in response to an external stimulus, as sunlight or temperature. — tropistic, adj.
ThesaurusLegend: Synonyms Related Words Antonyms | Noun | 1. | motion - the use of movements (especially of the hands) to communicate familiar or prearranged signalssign - a gesture that is part of a sign language beck - a beckoning gesture flourish - a showy gesture; "she entered with a great flourish" high-five - a gesture of greeting or elation; one person's upraised palm slaps the upraised palm of another person previous question - a motion calling for an immediate vote on the main question under discussion by a deliberative assembly shrug - a gesture involving the shoulders V sign - a sign (for victory); making a V with the index and middle fingers nod - a sign of assent or salutation or command bowing, obeisance, bow - bending the head or body or knee as a sign of reverence or submission or shame or greeting sign of the cross - a gesture with the right hand moving to form a cross; used by Catholics as a profession of faith curtsey, curtsy - bending the knees; a gesture of respect made by women | | 2. |  motion - a natural event that involves a change in the position or location of somethingpassing, passage - the motion of one object relative to another; "stellar passings can perturb the orbits of comets" deflexion, deflection - the movement of the pointer or pen of a measuring instrument from its zero position bending, bend - movement that causes the formation of a curve jitter - a small irregular movement heave - (geology) a horizontal dislocation recoil, kick - the backward jerk of a gun when it is fired seek - the movement of a read/write head to a specific data track on a disk wring, squeeze - a twisting squeeze; "gave the wet cloth a wring" turning, turn - a movement in a new direction; "the turning of the wind" undulation - wavelike motion; a gentle rising and falling in the manner of waves moving ridge, wave - one of a series of ridges that moves across the surface of a liquid (especially across a large body of water) wobble - an unsteady rocking motion whirl, commotion - confused movement; "he was caught up in a whirl of work"; "a commotion of people fought for the exits" | | 3. |  motion - a change of position that does not entail a change of location; "the reflex motion of his eyebrows revealed his surprise"; "movement is a sign of life"; "an impatient move of his hand"; "gastrointestinal motility"change - the action of changing something; "the change of government had no impact on the economy"; "his change on abortion cost him the election" abduction - (physiology) moving of a body part away from the central axis of the body adduction - (physiology) moving of a body part toward the central axis of the body agitation - the act of agitating something; causing it to move around (usually vigorously) body English - a motion of the body by a player as if to make an object already propelled go in the desired direction disturbance - the act of disturbing something or someone; setting something in motion gesture - motion of hands or body to emphasize or help to express a thought or feeling headshake, headshaking - the act of turning your head left and right to signify denial or disbelief or bemusement; "I could tell from their headshakes that they didn't believe me" inclining, inclination - the act of inclining; bending forward; "an inclination of his head indicated his agreement" kicking, kick - a rhythmic thrusting movement of the legs as in swimming or calisthenics; "the kick must be synchronized with the arm movements"; "the swimmer's kicking left a wake behind him" pitching, lurch, pitch - abrupt up-and-down motion (as caused by a ship or other conveyance); "the pitching and tossing was quite exciting" opening - the act of opening something; "the ray of light revealed his cautious opening of the door" reclining - the act of assuming or maintaining a reclining position retraction - the act of pulling or holding or drawing a part back; "the retraction of the landing gear"; "retraction of the foreskin" rotary motion, rotation - the act of rotating as if on an axis; "the rotation of the dancer kept time with the music" sitting - the act of assuming or maintaining a seated position; "he read the mystery at one sitting" posing, sitting - (photography) the act of assuming a certain position (as for a photograph or portrait); "he wanted his portrait painted but couldn't spare time for the sitting" snap - the act of snapping the fingers; movement of a finger from the tip to the base of the thumb on the same hand; "he gave his fingers a snap" squatting, squat - the act of assuming or maintaining a crouching position with the knees bent and the buttocks near the heels sweep - a movement in an arc; "a sweep of his arm" toss - an abrupt movement; "a toss of his head" wave - a movement like that of a sudden occurrence or increase in a specified phenomenon; "a wave of settlers"; "troops advancing in waves" standing - the act of assuming or maintaining an erect upright position stroke - a single complete movement | | 4. | motion - a state of change; "they were in a state of steady motion"state - the way something is with respect to its main attributes; "the current state of knowledge"; "his state of health"; "in a weak financial state" perpetual motion - motion that continues indefinitely without any external source of energy; impossible in practice because of friction precession - the motion of a spinning body (as a top) in which it wobbles so that the axis of rotation sweeps out a cone stream, flow - something that resembles a flowing stream in moving continuously; "a stream of people emptied from the terminal"; "the museum had planned carefully for the flow of visitors" | | 5. | motion - a formal proposal for action made to a deliberative assembly for discussion and vote; "he made a motion to adjourn"; "she called for the question"proposal - something proposed (such as a plan or assumption) | | 6. | motion - the act of changing location from one place to another; "police controlled the motion of the crowd"; "the movement of people from the farms to the cities"; "his move put him directly in my path"change - the action of changing something; "the change of government had no impact on the economy"; "his change on abortion cost him the election" coming, approach, approaching - the act of drawing spatially closer to something; "the hunter's approach scattered the geese" chase, pursual, pursuit, following - the act of pursuing in an effort to overtake or capture; "the culprit started to run and the cop took off in pursuit" descent - the act of changing your location in a downward direction return - the act of going back to a prior location; "they set out on their return to the base camp" glide, coast, slide - the act of moving smoothly along a surface while remaining in contact with it; "his slide didn't stop until the bottom of the hill"; "the children lined up for a coast down the snowy slope" slippage - failing to hold or slipping out of place; "the knots allowed no slippage" flow, stream - the act of flowing or streaming; continuous progression crawl - a very slow movement; "the traffic advanced at a crawl" shifting, shift - the act of moving from one place to another; "his constant shifting disrupted the class" rush, rushing, haste, hurry - the act of moving hurriedly and in a careless manner; "in his haste to leave he forgot his book" maneuver, manoeuvre, play - a deliberate coordinated movement requiring dexterity and skill; "he made a great maneuver"; "the runner was out on a play by the shortstop" migration - the movement of persons from one country or locality to another | | 7. |  motion - an optical illusion of motion produced by viewing a rapid succession of still pictures of a moving object; "the cinema relies on apparent motion"; "the succession of flashing lights gave an illusion of movement"optical illusion - an optical phenomenon that results in a false or deceptive visual impression | | Verb | 1. | motion - show, express or direct through movement; "He gestured his desire to leave"wink - signal by winking; "She winked at him" shrug - raise one's shoulders to indicate indifference or resignation clap, spat - clap one's hands together; "The children were clapping to the music" bless, sign - make the sign of the cross over someone in order to call on God for protection; consecrate nod - express or signify by nodding; "He nodded his approval" cross oneself - make the sign of the cross; in the Catholic religion bow, bow down - bend one's knee or body, or lower one's head; "He bowed before the King"; "She bowed her head in shame" shake - shake (a body part) to communicate a greeting, feeling, or cognitive state; "shake one's head"; "She shook her finger at the naughty students"; "The old enemies shook hands"; "Don't shake your fist at me!" beckon, wave - signal with the hands or nod; "She waved to her friends"; "He waved his hand hospitably" |
motion noun 1. movement, action, mobility, passing, travel, progress, flow, passage, locomotion, motility, kinesics verb 4. gesture, direct, wave, signal, nod, beckon, gesticulate >> in motion 5. in progress, going on, under way, afoot, on the go ( informal)  Translations motion [ˈməuʃən] n → movimiento (= gesture); ademán m; señal f; ( BRIT) (also: bowel motion) → evacuación f intestinal
 motion [ˈməuʃən] n → mouvement m (= gesture); geste m; (Brit) (also: bowel motion) → selles fpl
 motion [ˈməuʃən] n → Bewegung f; to be in motion ( vehicle) → fahren; to go through the motions (of doing sth) ( fig) → etw der Form halber tun; ( pretend) → so tun, als ob (man etw täte)
 motion [ˈməuʃən] n → movimento, moto (= gesture); gesto; to go through the motions of doing sth ( fig) → fare qc pro forma
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