move

Less common meanings

11. 11
    nouncountable

    An act of moving; a single motion of a body or part of one.

    He made a move for the exit.

    Don't make any sudden moves.

    UsageUsually with make (make a move toward the door) or watch (watch someone's every move).

    Similarmovement, motion, gesture

12. 12
    board game turnnouncountable

    In chess and other board games, a player's turn of shifting a piece within the rules; such turns are also counted to measure a game's length.

    She studied the position before making her move.

    Pawn to king four is the classic opening move.

    UsageUsually make a move; it's your move means it is your turn.

    Similarturn

    Note

    Board games give the noun its most countable form. It names a single play, as in the best move of the game was a rook sacrifice. It also stands for whose turn it is: it's your move! Moves are also counted to measure a game, as in mate in three moves, and in chess records one numbered move covers a turn by White and Black's reply. Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • Chess problems count moves when specifying how quickly checkmate must be achieved, as in 'mate in three moves'. math.mit.edu
    • In chess records, a move number groups White's move with Black's reply. en.wikipedia.org
13. 13
    verbtransitive

    In chess and other board games, to shift a piece from one square or position to another on one's turn.

    White moves first.

    Move your piece and press the clock.

    Similarplay

    Note

    A player's verb, with the piece as its object: she moved the queen, he moved his counter to Boardwalk. The same frame serves chess, where choosing the square is the skill, and dice games like Monopoly, where the roll decides the distance. The act has its own noun, a move on the board, as in it's your move. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

    • A queen can be moved between squares in chess, subject to movement rules. handbook.fide.com
    • Boardwalk is a Monopoly property to which a player's token can move. hasbro.com
    • In ordinary Monopoly movement, the dice determine the distance moved. hasbro.com
14. 14
    prompt to actverbtransitive

    To prompt, urge or persuade someone to act, or to influence their will by a motive or appeal; often with to and an infinitive.

    Pity moved him to help.

    What could move a man to such cruelty?

    UsageMove someone to an act or to do something: pity moved him to help.

    Similarprompt, drive, induce, inspire, spur

    Oppositedeter, discourage

    Note

    Here the will is set going, not the heart. Older writers used the passive with with: Richard Knolles's Generall Historie of the Turkes has not moved with the piety of his life. Persuade and induce name the arguing, while move names the effect. Its emotional twin is the sense of stirring feelings. Source

    Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • Older writers used move in the passive with with. en.wiktionary.org
    • Richard Knolles wrote Generall Historie of the Turkes. en.wikipedia.org
    • The quoted wording occurs in Knolles's Generall Historie of the Turkes. en.wiktionary.org
15. 15
    sellverbtransitive

    In business, to sell or shift stock, or in slang to deal drugs.

    We moved more units this quarter than last.

    Nobody can move a car with that mileage.

    UsageThe object is the goods: move stock, move units. Moving product can suggest dealing drugs.

    Similarsell, shift, push, flog

    Note

    Trade talk treats stock as something to be shifted off the shelf: a business that can't move its inventory quickly will fail. The same verb also covers selling illicit drugs. Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

    • Slow-moving inventory can cause problems, but does not inevitably cause business failure; waiting can sometimes be an appropriate response. netsuite.com
16. 16
    verbtransitive

    In programming, to transfer a value or the resources it owns to another variable or object instead of copying them.

    After you move it, the old variable is empty.

    The compiler moved the string into the new owner.

    Note

    Programmers contrast this sense with copying. In C++ and Rust, moving a value hands its contents to a new owner instead of duplicating them; Stroustrup wanted to move a Vector rather than copy it. The cost is that the original can no longer be relied on: Rust forbids further use, and C++ leaves its contents unspecified. Research on code comprehension treats using an entity that has already been moved as a typical error. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 5 facts

    • C++ distinguishes moving from copying and supports transferring resources instead of duplicating them. stroustrup.com
    • Rust moves transfer ownership without duplicating the owned heap data. doc.rust-lang.org
    • Stroustrup described wanting to move a Vector rather than copy it. ptgmedia.pearsoncmg.com
    • Rust invalidates the moved-from binding until reinitialization. C++ moved-from objects can remain usable; standard-library objects generally retain a valid but unspecified state. eel.is
    • Code-comprehension research treats use after moving as a programming issue. ceur-ws.org
17. 17
    syntaxnoununcountable

    In Minimalist syntax, one of the basic structure-building operations, which displaces an element already in the tree to a new position.

    In a question like 'What did you see?', Move shifts 'what' from after the verb to the front of the sentence.

    Internal merge is another name for move.

    Note

    A term of art from generative syntax, used in the Minimalist Program, where it names a basic structure-building operation rather than an event. Earlier Government and Binding theory spoke of Move alpha, and outside generative grammar the label is not standard, so name the framework when you use it. Its usual partner is merge: merge builds structure, and move displaces an element within it. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

    • Move names a basic syntactic operation in the Minimalist Program. its.caltech.edu
    • The related operation Move-α is also standard terminology in Government and Binding theory. api.drum.lib.umd.edu
    • Merge builds syntactic structure, while Move displaces an element within it. api.drum.lib.umd.edu
18. 18
    verbobsoletetransitive

    To raise or mention; to put a question, suggestion or complaint before someone.

    Similarmention, raise, reference

    Note

    An obsolete use found only in older texts, where to move a question, a doubt, or a complaint simply means to raise it. Nothing formal is implied, unlike the assembly's motion. In modern writing, use raise or bring up instead. To move a complaint today would sound either archaic or like a procedural motion. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

    • An obsolete sense of move means to mention or raise a question or complaint. en.wiktionary.org
    • To move a doubt could mean to raise a question. thomasmorestudies.org
    • This sense does not necessarily imply a formal assembly motion. gutenberg.org
19. 19
    verbobsoletetransitive

    To apply to someone for aid or a favor, with the request introduced by for.

    To me she speaks; she moves me for her them

    c. 1594, William Shakespeare, “The Comedie of Errors”

    Note

    The petitioner's verb, now obsolete. The person appealed to is the object, and the request follows for. In The Comedy of Errors, written about 1594, a character says she moves me for, meaning she is appealing to him. The same for-phrase lives on in court, where lawyers move for an order, a use of the formal proposing sense. Outside law, this use reads as archaic. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 4 facts

    • The obsolete petitioning sense is transitive: the person appealed to is the object, and for introduces the request. en.wiktionary.org
    • About 1594 is an accepted approximate composition date for The Comedy of Errors, although its composition date is disputed. Its first publication was in 1623. rsc.org.uk
    • Antipholus of Syracuse says the quoted words about Adriana in Act 2, scene 2. folger.edu
    • The construction move for an order is used in legal requests to a court. pacodeandbulletin.gov
20. 20
    verbobsoleteintransitive

    To bow or make a salute on meeting someone.

    Note

    A gesture of greeting that has dropped out of the language: to move, on meeting someone, was to bow or salute. It turns up only in older texts. A reader who takes it as a plain change of position will miss the courtesy. Unlike most uses of the verb, it takes no object. Modern writing would say bow, nod, or greet. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 2 facts

    • Move had an obsolete sense meaning to bow or salute upon meeting someone. en.wiktionary.org
    • This greeting sense takes no object. en.wiktionary.org