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move

verb · noun

Simple meaning

To go from one place to another, or to change something's position.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

moov
US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈmuv

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

verb

  1. Change residence, affiliation, or place of employment

    “We moved from Idaho to Nebraska.”

  2. Change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically

  3. intransitive

    To change place or posture; to go, in any manner, from one place or position to another.

  4. Go or proceed from one point to another

    “The debate moved from family values to the economy.”

  5. intransitive

    To act; to take action; to begin to act

  6. Be in a state of action

noun

  1. The act of moving; a movement.

  2. An act for the attainment of an object; a step in the execution of a plan or purpose.

  3. A formalized or practiced action used in athletics, dance, physical exercise, self-defense, hand-to-hand combat, etc.

  4. The event of changing one's residence.

  5. A change in strategy.

  6. A transfer, a change from one employer to another.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
A1 · Beginner (estimated)
Frequency
Very Common
Typical Use
Everyday English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: Change residence, affiliation, or place of employment

Used this way, move is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It turns up most in business or professional contexts.

Heard in a sentence
“We moved from Idaho to Nebraska.”
Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Common
Connotation
No strong connotation
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Where it naturally appears

  • Business/professional

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

How It’s Used

The word’s distinct uses, one example each.

  • Changeverb

    “We moved from Idaho to Nebraska.”

  • Proceedverb

    “The debate moved from family values to the economy.”

More ways to use move

  • “The debate moved from family values to the economy.”verb
  • “The chairman of the company told the salesmen to move the computers.”verb
  • “We moved from Idaho to Nebraska.”verb

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

move awaymove forwardmove through

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Inflected forms

Grammatical variations of the same word.

  • movedadjectiveInflected form

    Being excited or provoked to the expression of an emotion.

  • movernounInflected form

    Workman employed by a moving company.

Word family

Words built from the same root.

  • movementnounDerived noun

    A change of position that does not entail a change of location.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: change residence or affiliation or or place of employment

go

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.