motion (n.)

  1. the use of movements (especially of the hands) to communicate familiar or prearranged signals

    [ Syn: gesture ]

  2. a natural event that involves a change in the position or location of something

    [ Syn: movement ]

  3. 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

    [ Syn: movement , move , motility ]

  4. a state of change; they were in a state of steady motion'

  5. 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

    [ Syn: question ]

  6. 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

    [ Syn: movement , move ]

  7. 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

    [ Syn: apparent motion , apparent movement , movement ]

    motion (v.)

  1. show, express or direct through movement; He gestured his desire to leave

    [ Syn: gesticulate , gesture ]

The dictionary is based on the WordNet Electronic Lexical Database.
WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2011 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.