(~s, moving, ~d)
Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English.
1.
When you ~ something or when it ~s, its position changes and it does not remain still.
She ~d the sheaf of papers into position...
A traffic warden asked him to ~ his car...
I could see the branches of the trees moving back and forth...
The train began to ~.
VERB: V n prep/adv, V n, V prep/adv, V
2.
When you ~, you change your position or go to a different place.
She waited for him to get up, but he didn’t ~...
He ~d around the room, putting his possessions together...
VERB: V, V prep/adv
•
Move is also a noun.
The doctor made a ~ towards the door...
Daniel’s eyes followed her every ~.
= ~ment
N-COUNT: usu sing
3.
If you ~, you act or you begin to do something.
Industrialists must ~ fast to take advantage of new opportunities in Eastern Europe.
= act
VERB: V
4.
A ~ is an action that you take in order to achieve something.
The one point cut in interest rates was a wise ~...
The thirty-five member nations agreed to the ~...
N-COUNT: usu sing
5.
If a person or company ~s, they leave the building where they have been living or working, and they go to live or work in a different place, taking their possessions with them.
My family home is in Yorkshire and they don’t want to ~...
She had often considered moving to London...
They ~ house fairly frequently...
VERB: V, V to n, V n
•
Move is also a noun.
Modigliani announced his ~ to Montparnasse in 1909.
N-COUNT
6.
If people in authority ~ someone, they make that person go from one place or job to another one.
His superiors ~d him to another parish...
Ms Clark is still in position and there are no plans to ~ her...
= transfer
VERB: V n prep/adv, V n
7.
If you ~ from one job or interest to another, you change to it.
He ~d from being an extramural tutor to being a lecturer in social history...
In the early days Christina ~d jobs to get experience.
VERB: V from/to n/-ing, V n
•
Move is also a noun.
His ~ to the chairmanship means he will take a less active role in day-to-day management.
N-COUNT
8.
If you ~ to a new topic in a conversation, you start talking about something different.
Let’s ~ to another subject, Dan.
VERB: V from/to n/-ing
9.
If you ~ an event or the date of an event, you change the time at which it happens.
The club has ~d its meeting to Saturday, January 22nd...
The band have ~d forward their Leeds date to October 27.
VERB: V n to n, V n with adv, also V n
10.
If you ~ towards a particular state, activity, or opinion, you start to be in that state, do that activity, or have that opinion.
Since the Convention was drawn up international opinion has begun to ~ against it.
VERB: V prep/adv
•
Move is also a noun.
His ~ to the left was not a sudden leap but a natural working out of ideas.
= shift
N-COUNT
11.
If a situation or process is moving, it is developing or progressing, rather than staying still.
Events are moving fast...
Someone has got to get things moving.
VERB: usu cont, V, V n -ing
12.
If you say that you will not be ~d, you mean that you have come to a decision and nothing will change your mind.
Everyone thought I was mad to go back, but I wouldn’t be ~d.
= budge
VERB: usu passive, with neg, be V-ed
13.
If something ~s you to do something, it influences you and causes you to do it.
It was punk that first ~d him to join a band seriously...
VERB: V n to-inf
14.
If something ~s you, it has an effect on your emotions and causes you to feel sadness or sympathy for another person.
These stories surprised and ~d me...
His prayer ~d me to tears.
VERB: V n, V n to n
~d
Those who listened to him were deeply ~d.
ADJ: v-link ADJ
15.
If you say that someone ~s in a particular society, circle, or world, you mean that they know people in a particular social class or group and spend most of their time with them.
She ~s in high-society circles in London...
VERB: V in n
16.
At a meeting, if you ~ a motion, you formally suggest it so that everyone present can vote on it.
Labour quickly ~d a closure motion to end the debate...
I ~ that the case be dismissed.
= put forward, propose
VERB: V n, V that
17.
A ~ is an act of putting a chess piece or other counter in a different position on a board when it is your turn to do so in a game.
With no idea of what to do for my next ~, my hand hovered over the board.
N-COUNT
18.
If you say that one false ~ will cause a disaster, you mean that you or someone else must not make any mistakes because the situation is so difficult or dangerous.
He knew one false ~ would end in death.
PHRASE
19.
If you tell someone to get a ~ on, you are telling them to hurry. (INFORMAL)
= hurry up
PHRASE
20.
If you make a ~, you prepare or begin to leave one place and go somewhere else.
He glanced at his wristwatch. ‘I suppose we’d better make a ~.’
PHRASE: V inflects, oft PHR to-inf
21.
If you make a ~, you take a course of action.
The week before the deal was supposed to close, fifteen Japanese banks made a ~ to pull out...
PHRASE: V inflects, oft PHR to-inf
22.
If you are on the ~, you are going from one place to another.
Jack never wanted to stay in one place for very long, so they were always on the ~.
PHRASE: usu PHR after v, v-link PHR
23.
to ~ the goalposts: see goalpost
to ~ a muscle: see muscle