Do something perfunctorily, or merely pretend to do it. For example, The team is so far behind that they're just going through the motions, or She didn't really grieve at his death; she just went through the motions. [c. 1800]
go through the motions
| Idioms: go through the motions |
Learn More
 | Demanty Noci (1964 War Film) |
| walk through (Idiom) |
| Success, Lies and Videotape: A Different World (TV Episode) (1990 TV Episode) |
Help us answer these
 | What does it mean to go through the motion at present? |
| If motion of charges through a flashlight go from one terminal of battery to the other what will happen? |
| Going with the motion? |
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 | Idioms. The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more |
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