- movement
-
noun
Date: 14th century
1.
a.
(1) the act or process of moving; especially change of place or position or posture
(2) a particular instance or manner of moving
b.
(1) a tactical or strategic shifting of a military unit ; maneuver
(2) the advance of a military unit
c. action, activity — usually used in plural
2.
a. tendency, trend <detected a movement toward fairer pricing> b. a series of organized activities working toward an objective; also an organized effort to promote or attain an end <the civil rights movement> 3. the moving parts of a mechanism that transmit a definite motion 4. a. motion 7 b. the rhythmic character or quality of a musical composition c. a distinct structural unit or division having its own key, rhythmic structure, and themes and forming part of an extended musical composition d. particular rhythmic flow of language ; cadence 5. a. the quality (as in a painting or sculpture) of representing or suggesting motion b. the vibrant quality in literature that comes from elements that constantly hold a reader's interest (as a quickly moving action-filled plot) 6. a. an act of voiding the bowels b. matter expelled from the bowels at one passage
New Collegiate Dictionary. 2001.