Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English - motion

~1 n 1 »MOVEMENT« the process of moving or the way that someone or something moves  (The rocking motion of the boat made Sylvia feel sick.) 2 »MOVING YOUR HEAD OR HAND« a single movement of your hand or head, especially done in order to communicate something  (He summoned the waiter with a motion of his hand.) 3 »SUGGESTION AT A MEETING« a proposal that is made formally at a meeting and then decided on by voting  (motion to do sth/motion that)  (We will now vote on the motion that membership charges should rise by 15%. | pass/carry a motion (=accept it by voting))  (The motion was carried by 15 votes to 10. | propose/put forward a motion (=make a proposal))  (I'd like to propose a motion to move the weekly meetings to Thursdays. | reject a motion (=not accept it) | motion denied (=used by a judge in a law court to refuse a suggestion by one of the lawyers)) 4 in motion formal or technical moving from one place or position to another  (a photograph of a frog in motion) 5 go through the motions to do something because you have to, even though you do not want to do it  (The mayor said he enjoyed the party, but you could see he was only going through the motions.) 6 set/put sth in motion to start a process or series of events that will continue for some time  (The Church voted to set in motion the process allowing women to be priests..) 7 in slow motion if a film is shown in slow motion, it is shown more slowly than usual so that all the actions can be clearly seen  (Let's look at that goal in slow motion.) 8 »BOWELS« especially BrE a word meaning an act of emptying your bowels, used especially by doctors and nurses  (- see also time and motion study) ~2 v to give someone directions or instructions by moving your hands  (motion (for) sb to do sth)  (The police officer motioned for me to pull over. | motion to sb to do sth)  (He motioned to her to be quiet. | motion sb in/out etc)  (I saw her motioning me into the room.)