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Definition of Go through the motions
1. Verb. Pretend to do something by acting as if one was really doing it. "She isn't really working--she's just going through the motions"
Definition of Go through the motions
1. Verb. (idiomatic) To do something in a mechanical, unreflective manner, especially as a matter of routine and without commitment or enthusiasm; to perform a task perfunctorily. ¹
¹ Source: wiktionary.com
Lexicographical Neighbors of Go Through The Motions
Literary usage of Go through the motions
Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:
1. The Expositor edited by William Robertson Nicoll, Samuel Cox, James Moffatt (1884)
"The peasants of that district still affirm that " a form is often seen to emerge
from the gloomy pool, and go through the motions of one washing his hands; ..."
2. Journal of the Association of Military Surgeons of the United States by Association of Military Surgeons of the United States, Association of Military Surgeons of the United States Meeting (1806)
"In a great number of men by having one recruit see another go through the "motions"
it may reach the rapidity of three or four an hour, if continued for ..."
3. Comparative Physiology of the Brain and Comparative Psychology by Jacques Loeb (1900)
"... have neither the scientific 1 It was not necessary for him to see what he
wrote or to actually write ; it was sufficient to go through the motions of ..."
4. Swimming by Archibald Sinclair, William Henry (1893)
"patient is in position, the operator with his right hand will go through the
motions of wiping and clearing the mouth, throat, and nostrils. ..."
5. The Auk: Quarterly Journal of Ornithology by American Ornithologists' Union, Nuttall Ornithological Club (1916)
"This January I saw a Hermit Thrush, though quite alone, several times go through
the motions of depressing the tail and drooping and spreading ..."
6. Methods of Teaching in High Schools by Samuel Chester Parker (1920)
"Students can easily be trained to go through the motions of getting ready to study.
Either in school or at home they can be taught to apply the idea of ..."
7. The Encyclopedia Americana: A Library of Universal Knowledge (1920)
"... perhaps, the three- toed sloth (Bradypus Tridactylus), either swim naturally
or go through the motions of swimming when suddenly immersed in water. ..."
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