. 1. A series of pictures on a strip of film, taken at regular intervals in rapid succession (now usually 24 frames per second for ordinary work) by a special camera, intended to capture the image of objects in motion. [ PJC ]

2. the display of the images captured on a motion picture{ 1 }, presented to the eye in very rapid succession by projection from a special apparatus (a movie projector), with shows some or all of the objects in the picture represented in changing positions, producing, by persistence of vision, the optical effect of a continuous picture in which the objects appear to move as they did in the original scene.
Syn. -- movie, moving picture, flick. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. +PJC ]

3. The conceptual or informational content of a motion picture{ 1 }; the actions or events represented in a motion picture{ 1 }; the story line of a movie. “One of the great punch lines in motion picture history is ‘Round up the usual suspects.' from ‘Casablanca'.” [ PJC ]