move v.
1. to leave [SE from 15C–mid-18C].
 | Hist. Two Orphans II 116: As I shall lay with a friend two miles off, ’tis high time to be moving . | |
![[US]](/static/img/flags/us.png "United States") | From Here to Eternity (1998) 798: All right then, move it. | |
![[UK]](/static/img/flags/uk.png "United Kingdom") | Saved Scene x: I said move! | |
| Dealer 86: ‘Yeah, I got to move out. I got a dude that I used to do business with. Cat owes me some money, and like, man, he’s fucking me around. | |
| Slam! 182: ‘I got to be moving now but the next time you play let me know’. |
2. (also move in on) to pick up a member of the opposite sex [SE move, to stir, to excite].
| Fan’s Notes 12: B. [...] was attempting to pick up a young, snub-nosed and attractive girl who frequented the place. He picked her up, too; and I had to admire the ease with which he did it [. . . .] [W]atching him so facilely ‘move’ the girl I wondered what that other girl was searching for, the one who had tossed him over. | |
| S.R.O. (1998) 57: ‘Who gave you permission to move in on that guy on West End Avenue?’. | |
![[Ire]](/static/img/flags/ire.png "Ireland") | Commitments 64: You moved in on Joey, Nat’lie? he asked. | |
| Bend for Home 197: Sheila doesn’t appear. So I moved Rose Reilly. |
3. (orig. US) to dance or play music energetically or with a strong rhythm.
| Vinnie Got Blown Away 112: You were black could get paid dancing start the evening, only white kids never got the offer, couldn’t move I reckon. | |
| Adventures 6: Family and friends, grinding and freaking, moving and grooving. Every one of ’em in step with the beat. |
4. (orig. US) to move fast, to be exciting or dynamic.
| Titus Groan 241: ‘We’ll be back within half an hour. I can move when I want to’. | |
| Shake Him Till He Rattles (1964) 100: Looks like the place is going to move. | |
| Last Exit to Brooklyn 295: [H]e told her he had a Cadillac, with whitewalls and would she like something to eat and when you with ol Abe you move. | |
| Brother Ray 36: [W]hen I walked around those towns, my pace wasn’t halting or even cautious. Man, I moved. | |
| Will 251: ‘For Christ’s sake, Jeb, there’s less than an hour till that press conference. You’ve got to get to Mitchell and get working on that statement. [...] Now move’. | |
| The World Don’t Owe Me Nothing 206: I shot at him. I missed him but he dropped those components and moved! | |
| Life’s Too Short 29: L’Corine was born with a high-octane engine roaring inside her. She moves. |
5. (US drugs) to sell off or to dispose of merchandise, incl. contraband, drugs and stolen property [ext. of SE move, of merchandise, to sell or dispose of].
| Fast Man n.d. 1/3: [I]t ain’t the first time your old man’s been locked up [...] What is it then—has he been moving anything? | |
| Only a Game 63: [H]e is an artist at moving bad tickets. | |
| Cogan’s Trade (1975) 117: I can move it [i.e. cocaine] to two guys and get twenny-five. | |
![[NZ]](/static/img/flags/nz.png "New Zealand") | Big Huey 16: He was moving a few sticks [of marijuana] on the side. | |
| Pimp’s Rap 109: I’m moving coke, weed and a little heroin. | |
| Eddie’s World 90: I need to move something [...] Something hot [Ibid.] 93: Some ignorant crackhead nigger moving H for the west side Dominicans. | |
![[Scot]](/static/img/flags/sco.png "Scotland") | Young Team 124: As well as the soap bar, they’ve git three hundred swedgers. |
In phrases
see sense 2 above.
to leave one’s rented premises without paying the rent, to do a moonlight flit n.
| Dict. of Sl., Jargon and Cant. |
to die.
| Mayor of Garrat in Works (1799) I 165: Whether from the fall or the fright, the Major mov’d off in a month. |
1. (US black/campus) to hit, to assault, usu. with a weapon.
| Runnin’ Down Some Lines 247: move on (one) See fire (on one). | |
| Another Day in Paradise 182: Jewels won’t move on ya, Bobbie. | |
| (con. 1975–6) Steel Toes 147: I want to move on him and Syd says you gotta OK it. |
2. (US black) to assault in a group.
| ‘Love Song for Wing’ in King Black Short Story Anthol. (1972) 147: Y’all betta make it! Ain’t nobody gonna’ move on nobody today, yah dig? Nothin’! | |
| Runnin’ Down Some Lines 106: Another strategy is to gang up on a person [...] jack up, jam, double punch, crowd, and move on someone carry this meaning. |
3. to approach sexually.
| Londonstani (2007) 146: Find out how he plannin on movin on desi sistas. | |
| quoting D. Trump in Wash. Post 7 Oct. Giuliani 273: ‘[‘]I moved on her, actually. [...] I moved on her, and I failed. I’ll admit it. [...] I did try and fuck her. [...] I moved on her like a bitch. But I couldn’t get there’. |
(orig. US) to hurry up, to get a move on; often as imper.
| Semi-Tough 12: If there’s anybody around here who doesn’t want to do that, then he can move his ass down the road. | |
| Spike Island (1981) 72: Hey, on yer bloody way! Move yer arse now! | |
| ‘Minder on the Orient Express’ Minder [TV script] 50: Move your butt. | |
| Déjàvu Act I: I wish he’d shift his comfortable big arse down to the cellar for me. | |
| Llama Parlour 40: ‘Move ass,’ Tash hissed at me, heading for the car park. | |
| (con. 1960s) Blood Brothers 52: ‘They must have heard that also, so let’s move ass,’ shouted Charlie. | |
| Dreamcatcher 486: Move your humps. | |
| Joey Piss Pot 28: ‘Meantime, you can tell Jerry the clock is ticking and I’m not dead yet. He better move his ass’. |
to get out of the way, usu. as imper., move!
| Marvel 15 May 7: Oh, don’t begin to shift your blooming carcass; I’m not going to shoot. | |
![[Aus]](/static/img/flags/aus.png "Australia") | Bulletin (Sydney)‘31 Aug. 36/2: ‘The Law,’ who is out for the day, takes up a good position between the champion and the public, much to the rage of the short people, who shriek at him to ‘shift his carcase.’. | |
| Bulletin (Sydney) 12 Dec. Red Page/4: Fellers of Australier, / Blokes an’ coves an’ coots, / Shift yer — carcases, / Move yer — boots. / Gird yer — loins up, / Get yer — gun, / Set the — enermy / An’ watch the — run. | |
| Dict. of Kiwi Sl. 100/2: shift/move your carcass get out of the way. | |
| Reed Dict. of N.Z. Sl. [as cit. 1988]. |
(N.Z.) to expand, to bloom.
| Dict. of Kiwi Sl. | |
| Reed Dict. of N.Z. Sl. [as cit. 1988]. |
(US black) to leave.
| Straight Outta Compton 58: ‘Kep looking, baby,’ said Clive, ‘cause I’m moving the crowd’ [...] Then he disappeared between the trees. |
(US Und.) to smuggle illegal Chinese immigrants.
| Eve. Sun (Baltimore, MD) 9 Dec. 31/5: Moving the laundry — smuggling Chinamen. | |
| et al. DAUL 122/1: Laundry, the. Chinese aliens. Used only in the following idiom: To move the laundry — to smuggle alien Chinese into the country. |
1. to bow to.
| Vocabulum 57: Moved bowed to. ‘The swell moved to the Moll as they crossed,’ the gentleman bowed to the girl as they passed each other. |
2. (UK black teen) to take notice of; to reprimand.
| Attack the Block [film script] 17: DENNIS Tia’s movin’ to you Moses. PEST She’s on your balls cuz! |
3. (UK black) to attack, assault.
| What They Was 144: Someone says rah, myman got moved to. |
to associate with, to spend time with.
| Scholar 15: Your cousin should watch himself with dem brers he’s movin’ with, y’know. |
In exclamations
(UK black) leave me alone! go away!
| theculturetrip.com ‘Guide to London Slang 10 Jan. 🌐 Move out/from me – telling someone to get away from you and your personal space. |