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