Meaning

4 senses

  1. (figuratively, informal, intransitive)To progress at a brisk pace.

    Sales were slow at first, but now things are really motoring.

  2. (transitive)To rotate a jet engine or turboprop using the engine's starter, without introducing fuel into the engine.

  3. (dated, transitive)To make a journey by motor vehicle; to drive.

    On Saturday we motored down to Plymouth.

  4. (intransitive, slang)To leave.

    I gotta motor.

More definitions
  • travel or be transported in a vehicle

Origin

From Middle English motour (“controller, prime mover; God”), from Latin mōtor (“mover; tha

From Middle English motour (“controller, prime mover; God”), from Latin mōtor (“mover; that which moves something”), from mōtō (“to set in motion”).

Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source

Forms

motors, motoring, motored, motored

regular · Lesson

Base formmotor · to motor
3rd person singularmotors
Present participlemotoring
Past simplemotored
Past participlemotored

Tenses

motor · motored · will motor · have motored

Point at a form to see it in a sentence.Tap a form to see it in a sentence.

Present simpleLesson

I, you, we, theymotor
he, she, itmotors

Present perfectLesson

I, you, we, theyhave motored
he, she, ithas motored

Future simple (will)Lesson

all personswill motor

Past simpleLesson

all personsmotored

Synonyms

2 synonyms
(dated)To make a journey by motor vehicle:moto
Close in meaning
  • travel or be transported in a vehicle:drive

Word family

2 related words
Relatedmotoristmotoring

Lessons for this word

3 lessons

See also

neighbours in the dictionary
motiveB1motocrossmotorbikeB2motorboat

Dictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.

motor — meaning, examples, forms, synonyms | Krumeto