WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
ˈmo•tion ˈpic•ture, n. [countable]
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- Show Businessa story, incident, or message presented in film.
- Show Business motion pictures, [plural] movie (def. 3).
mo′tion pic′ture,
- Show Business, Cinemaa sequence of consecutive pictures of objects photographed in motion by a specially designed camera (mo′tion-pic′ture cam′era) and thrown on a screen by a projector (mo′tion-pic′ture projec′tor) in such rapid succession as to give the illusion of natural movement.
- Show Businessa play, event, or the like, presented in this form.
- Show Businessmotion pictures, the art, technique, or business of producing motion pictures. Also called movie, moving picture.
- 1890–95
'motion-picture film' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
gauge
- picture
- still
- acetate
- answer print
- base
- blip
- celluloid
- edit
- film clip
- film recorder
- kinescope
- light valve
- Moviola
- reel
- time-lapse photography
- toner
- soundtrack
- splicer