Dictionary

move on en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio

Meanings

1. (idiomatic, intransitive) To continue; to proceed; to go on.
   • Moving on again, I catch another GWR Class 802 bound for Oxford via the Cotswold Line. 2020 December 2, Paul Bigland, “My weirdest and wackiest Rover yet”, in Rail, page 67:
   • After spending the night resting in an abandoned church, the group decided to move on in their quest.
2. (idiomatic, intransitive) To start dealing with something else.
   • I could never be what she wants of me (won't you tell her?), hey / I'll just pass her by, I don't want to make her cry (won't you tell her?) hey / (Hope she finds a happy home, I think it's best that I move on, hey (hey) / I could never be what she wants of me, hey 1974, Eddie Kendricks, “Tell Her Love Has Felt the Need”, in Boogie Down!:
   • Part of the problem is that Ted Baker hasn’t moved on. In an era of hyper-fast fashion, where consumers can buy into new trends in the bat of an eyelid at very low cost, Ted Baker’s dedication to its staid aesthetic read like an admission of defeat long before its actual demise. 2024 August 19, Ellie Violet Bramley, “Ted Baker’s closure was foreseeable from a fashion perspective”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:
   • In Israel, a state commission of inquiry is not merely a judicial instrument or a means of settling facts. It’s a ritual of national closure that allows people to put events in order and move on. 2025 March 14, Gershom Gorenberg, “Netanyahu Doesn’t Want the Truth to Come Out”, in The Atlantic:
   • The best revenge is always to just happily move on and let karma do the rest.
   • Well, good for you, I guess you moved on really easily You found a new girl and it only took a couple weeks 2021, Olivia Rodrigo, “good 4 u”, in SOUR:
   • You've moved on, I know I should too My cuts are all gone, my pain feels brand new 2015 May 12, Rachel Platten, Dave Bassett, Brian West, “Beating Me Up”, in Fight Song, performed by Rachel Platten:
3. (idiomatic, informal, transitive) To attempt a seduction, often in a way seen as disloyal or rude to another.
   • I think Shane is going to move on my ex tonight.
4. To physically move something or someone.
   • The police moved the protestors on.
   • "When it was all British Rail, if they had some redundant sidings, they would dump all their old trains. There wasn't really a pressure to get rid of them. Now, with private companies owning the sites, you have to pay to store vehicles. Nobody wants old vehicles sat around - they can be graffitied, vandalised - and so the onus really is to move them on. 2025 October 29, James Steward tells Joe Campbell, “Thriving on the stock exchange”, in RAIL, number 1047, page 45:
5. (qualifier:African-American Vernacular, transitive) To assault or attack.

Forms

Relateds

make a move on · put moves on · get a move on · get over · on the move · move in on

Translations (17)

it passare oltre (to start dealing with something else) · el προχωρώ (to leave somewhere for another place) · es superarlo (to start dealing with something else) · fr passer à autre chose (to start dealing with something else) · es continuar adelante (to start dealing with something else) · hu továbblép (to start dealing with something else) · es seguir adelante (to start dealing with something else) · fi siirtyä eteenpäin (to start dealing with something else) · hu lapoz (to start dealing with something else) · hu továbbhalad (to leave somewhere for another place) · ru продвигаться (to start dealing with something else) · tr başka konuya geçmek (to start dealing with something else) · el συνεχίζω (to leave somewhere for another place) · fi jatkaa (to leave somewhere for another place) · hu továbbmegy (to leave somewhere for another place) · tr ayrılmak, başka yere gitmek (to leave somewhere for another place) · hu áttér (to start dealing with something else)