n.

1. a change of position that does not entail a change of location;
   motion, move, motility
   
   • the reflex motion of his eyebrows revealed his surprise
   • movement is a sign of life
   • an impatient move of his hand
   • gastrointestinal motility
2. a natural event that involves a change in the position or location of something;
   motion
3. the act of changing location from one place to another;
   motion, move
   
   • 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
4. a group of people with a common ideology who try together to achieve certain general goals;
   social movement, front
   
   • he was a charter member of the movement
   • politicians have to respect a mass movement
   • he led the national liberation front
5. a major self-contained part of a symphony or sonata
   
   • the second movement is slow and melodic
6. a series of actions advancing a principle or tending toward a particular end;
   campaign, cause, crusade, drive, effort
   
   • he supported populist campaigns
   • they worked in the cause of world peace
   • the team was ready for a drive toward the pennant
   • the movement to end slavery
   • contributed to the war effort
7. an optical illusion of motion produced by viewing a rapid succession of still pictures of a moving object;
   apparent motion, motion, apparent movement
   
   • the cinema relies on apparent motion
   • the succession of flashing lights gave an illusion of movement
8. a euphemism for defecation;
   bowel movement, bm
   
   • he had a bowel movement
9. a general tendency to change (as of opinion);
   drift, trend
   
   • not openly liberal but that is the trend of the book
   • a broad movement of the electorate to the right
10. the driving and regulating parts of a mechanism (as of a watch or clock)
    
    • it was an expensive watch with a diamond movement
11. the act of changing the location of something
    
    • the movement of cargo onto the vessel