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go through the motions

   Also found in: Idioms 0.01 sec.
mo·tion  (mshn)
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 movre, to move; see meu- in Indo-European roots.]
ThesaurusLegend:  Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
Verb1.go through the motions - pretend to do something by acting as if one was really doing it; "She isn't really working--she's just going through the motions"
make believe, pretend, make - represent fictitiously, as in a play, or pretend to be or act like; "She makes like an actress"

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The place where God reveals our brokenness seems obvious--we go through the motions of a religious life in a culture that many experience as unjust, we are not faithful, and we are not prepared (despite, I suspect, some of you having been Boy Scouts).
This feeling has sometimes been compared to an out-of-body experience: the limbs and muscles go through the motions they have learned, but the mind and spirit seem to be elsewhere.
To watch Aloysius and Flynn go through the motions of courtesy (while knowing what's boiling under the surface) is to experience an inspired moment of dramatic irony.
 
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