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to motion

to motion

35 2.1
To move your hand or head to show someone something
  • verb
  • /ˈmoʊʃən/
translation icon : hacer señas
  • And he motioned for me to come to him.
  • motioned toward the house

And then he motions for like a book and she brings a book.

Examples

  • What were you motioning to Claire for?

  • His morning ritual complete, he motioned me to follow him out into the fourth-floor hallway.

    Fiction book (1990)
  • And then he motions for like a book and she brings a book.

  • You motioned for me to come down here.

  • I was motioning for another drink.

  • His boss saw him coming and motioned him over to his office.

    Academic text (2002)
  • Antonia took a step back and motioned that this one was up to me.

    Academic text (1992)
  • We stood in the center of the room until Duvalier motioned to us with his hand.

    Academic text (1990)
  • "Very much so," Marissa said, motioning Wendy to give her a piece of paper.

    Fiction book (1991)
  • He motioned for the guests to take their seats at the table.

Synonyms

to point
vsto motion
1.0

To show or direct attention to something

is a more general communicative movement not only for directing attention
to wave
vsto motion
584 1.0

To move your hand back and forth to greet or get attention

is a broader communicative movement not limited to that back and forth action
to gesture
vsto motion
62 3.0

To move a hand to show or ask for something

is a broader term for any simple communicative movement
to gesticulate
vsto motion
5 7.6

Move hands or arms when speaking to show an idea

is less tied to speaking and can be simpler movements

Idioms

poetry in motion
  • Literature
3 4.9

Very graceful, beautiful movement often seen in dance or sport

Start a series of actions that lead to later changes

motion of my ocean
  • Literature
9.9

A deep feeling you have when something moves you deeply

A joking phrase that says skill matters more than size

Phrasal Verbs

To make something begin to move or happen

9 4.6

Formally suggest a plan or action in a meeting

Compounds

A story that uses moving images and sound, like a movie

slow motion
  • Specialized
53 3.2

A way of showing action in film or video that happens more slowly than real life

Feeling dizzy and sick when you travel in cars, boats or planes

The act of going ahead toward a goal

law of motion
  • Specialized
3 3.9

A rule that shows how pushes and pulls change how things move, for example by starting or stopping

3 9.9

A machine that runs forever without any extra energy

An American group that gives the Oscars every year for work in movies

2 3.8

Smooth, graceful movement that looks continuous without sudden stops

perpetual motion
  • Specialized
2 9.1

Movement that keeps going forever without any extra energy

A camera that takes many pictures quickly to make a movie when played

1 3.5

Three basic rules that explain how objects move and push each other in physics

Brownian motion
  • Specialized
1 7.3

Tiny particles in a liquid or gas move randomly when molecules hit them

A long roll of plastic with many pictures that goes in a movie camera

first law of motion
  • Specialized
1 4.1

An object stays still or keeps moving at the same speed and direction unless a force acts on it

motion study
  • Specialized
1 5.3

A careful look at how a job is done to find faster, easier steps

harmonic motion
  • Specialized
1 6.3

A movement that goes back and forth around a middle point, like a pendulum

1 3.9

Every force causes an equal force in the opposite direction

relative motion
  • Specialized
1 6.1

Movement of one object measured from another or from a person watching

orbital motion
  • Specialized
1 5.3

Movement of one object around another in space, like a planet around a star

third law of motion
  • Specialized
1 4.2

Every push on an object causes an equal push back in the opposite direction

decelerated motion
  • Specialized
7.2

Movement that slows down over time

apparent motion
  • Specialized
7.2

A visual effect that makes still images look like they are moving, as in movies

axial motion
  • Specialized
6.9

Movement when something turns around its own middle like a spinning top

Movement where speed changes by different amounts over time

A person who likes watching movies and often goes to the cinema

5.0

Taking moving pictures with a camera to make films

A public show where moving pictures and sound tell a story, like a film at a cinema

A rule that describes how planets move around the Sun in oval paths

An object stays still or keeps moving in the same straight line unless a force acts on it

A rule that a force changes an object's motion more when the force is bigger or the object is lighter

rotary motion
  • Specialized
3.6

Movement in which something spins around a fixed line

Going forward toward a goal or place

periodic motion
  • Specialized
4.1

Movement that repeats at regular times, with each cycle taking the same amount of time

second law of motion
  • Specialized
4.7

A rule that says how a force makes an object move faster depending on its mass

time and motion study
  • Specialized
5.5

A study that measures how long each part of a job takes to find a faster way

time-and-motion study
  • Specialized
6.0

People watch how workers do a job to find the fastest, easiest way to do it

time-motion study
  • Specialized
6.2

A careful timing of movements to find faster ways to do a job

A situation that gets worse slowly in public while people cannot stop it

6.3

A repeating back and forth movement where the pull back gets stronger the farther it moves from center

Movement where speed decreases by the same amount every second

How Clear

to signal
141 3.0
to beckon
23 4.0
to motion
35 2.1

Surface Forms

motion infinitive
motioned past
motioned past participle
motioning present participle
motions third person singular

Etymology

As a verb, motion comes from Latin movere 'to move' and means to make a movement with your hand or head to show, direct, or invite someone. So, to motion someone is to use a movement to tell them what to do.