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Crossword clues for motive

motive
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
motive
I.noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a motive for murder (=a reason to kill someone)
▪ Police believe the motive for the murders was robbery.
has...ulterior motives
▪ He’s just being nice. I don’t think he has any ulterior motives.
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADJECTIVE
different
▪ According to his model, individuals are variable and driven by many different motives.
▪ But in the somewhat artificial world you are creating, six different motives you may well need.
▪ In the end, seventeen different forms of motive power were on display along with a wide range of other railway related attractions.
▪ And because I knew a lot of people, you'd do things for different motives.
▪ Similarly, many different motives came into play, ranging from political manipulation to the purest altruism.
▪ Board games can enable pupils to interact and consider different viewpoints and motives at times in the past.
▪ Murder, petty theft and tax evasion, for instance, all have different motives and consequences.
▪ Different governments have different motives, depending on how radical and also how democratic they actually are.
economic
▪ Even the westward expansion of the United States had its economic motives.
human
▪ But he had no understanding of the extraordinary complexities and irrationalities of human motives, human behaviour.
▪ He believed that nothing can be finally known that involves human motive and need.
▪ About human affairs, about human motives, actions and desires.
▪ Moreover, there are certain mysteries that weave through life itself, human motive and human desire.
▪ The universally-shared human motive of rational self-interest makes human action predictable, generalisable and controllable.
▪ It is not just a projection of human motives on to a neutral universe.
main
▪ Her main motive was simple: to retrieve the ring and thereby enable Rick to make peace with his family.
other
▪ Wolfenden also hints at the other motives behind the widespread public indignation.
▪ But what other motive could there be for silence?
▪ The prospect of good wages and modest gains provided ample inducement to serve; but there were no doubt other motives as well.
▪ At the same time it is easy to see that group solidarity overrides all other loyalties and motives.
▪ Careful investigation had revealed no other possible motive for the killing.
▪ Now there were other motives being satisfied, and scores being subtly settled.
▪ There may, of course, be other motives in all this.
▪ It was an inspired piece of public relations, though more motivated by sheer pride and genuine gratification than any other motive.
personal
▪ What were the personal motives of the chief participants in an event? 6.
political
▪ A political motive was clearly bound up with this economic activity.
▪ The political motives that lay behind this patronage in no way detract from the superb aesthetic achievement that it produced.
▪ While there were clearly political motives involved, there seems no reason to doubt his sincerity.
▪ Much of the recent speculation has overtly political motives.
▪ The murders might have a political motive.
▪ Oddly enough, conservative extremists shared his views, largely for unrelated internal political motives.
▪ It is hard to tell exactly how heavily domestic political motives weighed with de Gaulle.
▪ They also indicate his own political motives.
possible
▪ This was already being discussed widely as a possible motive for the action that Orkney Islands Council had taken.
▪ But the possible motives for another Farrakhan event in January and February drew less favorable reviews.
▪ We have one possibility but the case is still under investigation and I am looking for possible motives.
▪ There was no official word on a possible motive.
▪ Weinstock has listed fourteen of the possible motives authors have for citing the work of others.
▪ What possible motive could this round, friendly, most amiable of men have for murder?
▪ Careful investigation had revealed no other possible motive for the killing.
▪ It was clear Mrs Baggley was, in her own way, making comments about a possible motive for Gray's murder.
primary
▪ In this context the primary motive is increased sales.
▪ The primary motive is to free the self from a life that is necessarily rendered crass and degrading by society.
▪ During its visit 2857 has provided the primary motive power on the railway.
▪ Consequently, the calendar ceased to be the primary motive for celestial observation.
real
▪ Jamie had no idea of her real motive for searching the dead man's rooms.
▪ We must beware of hysterical solutions to complex problems urged by people whose real motive is often hatred of industry and capitalism.
▪ She felt suddenly sickened, reminded of her real motive for taking this job with Luke.
▪ Questions like these dealing with real people with real motives and posing problems, can slowly help to develop understanding.
▪ Also, he was not going to accept it, he was going to look for a real motive for this murder.
▪ And Troilus immediately confesses that this was his real motive behind his defence of the present Trojan stance.
▪ Unbeknown to you the real motive is to question you in order to undermine your position.
▪ The real motive for the enforced resignations remained unclear.
strong
▪ The other and perhaps stronger motive for regional bloc-building is the hope of increasing collective bargaining power.
▪ An overwhelmingly strong motive made the ship anchor there.
▪ The attempt to make such distinctions clear was a strong motive behind the whole idea of formalism.
ulterior
▪ However, for Guangming Ribao, all her appeals to students to end the demonstrations had an ulterior motive.
▪ An ulterior motive for performing text recognition is to convert existing printed material into a computer format that permits further processing.
▪ No ulterior motive lurks behind it, but it keeps you at a distance.
▪ They look around for other explanations and ulterior motives.
▪ A member is entitled to a judgment that is free from any extraneous or ulterior motive.
▪ Actually, he invited me out tonight, probably with an ulterior motive.
▪ It was difficult to accept that Jane had no ulterior motives.
▪ He had to have an ulterior motive.
■ NOUN
force
▪ The question is the charge of gas, exploded in the cylinder head, which is the motive force of every piston-stroke.
▪ Resistance to change is used too often as an excuse for failure rather than a motive force for success.
▪ The motive force for this enthusiasm is not internationalism or an overdose of brotherly love, but the size of the market.
▪ Desire is a motive force, an attractive force.
power
▪ In the end, seventeen different forms of motive power were on display along with a wide range of other railway related attractions.
▪ And, of course, the motive power is inevitably steam but not, alas, genuine West Riding motive power.
▪ During its visit 2857 has provided the primary motive power on the railway.
▪ It never looks half as glamorous today, now that the motive power is diesel.
▪ Many fail to realise that, due to obvious lack of water for motive power, it was ever a working mill.
profit
▪ The absence of the profit motive as an incentive to efficiency does not adequately distinguish public and private employees.
▪ Worse still, they unintentionally fostered negative, adverse meanings that equated Tesseract with a profit motive that people did not trust.
▪ But while public provision does not preclude charitable giving, the existence of the profit motive in any service usually does.
▪ Spurred by the profit motive, the shops tackled problems with a vengeance.
▪ The Conservatives have a tendency to believe that planning decisions can be taken on the profit motive.
▪ But not all such changes are driven by the profit motive.
▪ Nothing mattered except the profit motive.
▪ Society and the church used to condemn the profit motive as sinful and wrong.
■ VERB
kill
▪ About the motive for killing him Place seemed less clear.
▪ There was the motive for the killing!
provide
▪ Wycliffe had no idea but surely not enough to provide a motive for murder.
▪ During its visit 2857 has provided the primary motive power on the railway.
▪ Thus the political message of local elections provides another motive for ministers to deny their importance.
question
▪ Lawyers and supporters of the parents in Orkney questioned both the motives and the methods of this once trusted organisation.
▪ Others question corporate motives and wonder how much we want businesses involved in the schools.
▪ Your Miss MacQuillan says she questions my motives and emphatically will not encourage me to identify her father's killer.
▪ What has happened in the last decade to make anyone question his motives?
▪ He predicted that devolution would be divisive and questioned the very motives behind the policy.
suggest
▪ Currently, the evidence is suggesting that both the motives and the actions are more prevalent than was previously supposed.
▪ Interviewed at his Paddington studios, Sweet's wife, Audrey, could suggest no motive for the killing.
suspect
▪ Her second teacher was Miss Barnsdale, one of those who suspects a mean motive for everything.
▪ A Temne is likely to suspect the motives of a Mende politician.
▪ She suspected his motives in asking her.
▪ Some in the West Wing suspected more petty motives.
▪ You owe him an apology for misjudging him and suspecting his motives at every turn.
▪ Tonight she had come full circle - from merely suspecting Luke's motives to hearing him finally admit them.
▪ They disliked this egoistic conception of man, and they suspected that egoistic motives might not be sufficient to underpin morality.
understand
▪ The future provision of a healthy diet will be based upon a full and detailed understanding of these motives.
▪ Much of my agony came from my inability to understand his motives.
▪ Obviously he hadn't liked it, because it showed that she understood his motives only too well.
▪ She would try to understand Mrs Maybury's motives.
▪ She would at once understand the motive and, however coldly she dealt with me, she would understand the necessity.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
ulterior motive/purpose etc
▪ A member is entitled to a judgment that is free from any extraneous or ulterior motive.
▪ Actually, he invited me out tonight, probably with an ulterior motive.
▪ An ulterior motive for performing text recognition is to convert existing printed material into a computer format that permits further processing.
▪ However, for Guangming Ribao, all her appeals to students to end the demonstrations had an ulterior motive.
▪ It was difficult to accept that Jane had no ulterior motives.
▪ No ulterior motive lurks behind it, but it keeps you at a distance.
▪ The legislation pertaining to protection of wetlands and endangered species is clearly being abused by extremists pursuing ulterior motives.
▪ They look around for other explanations and ulterior motives.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ It's hard to understand her motives.
▪ Police believe the motive for the murder was jealousy
▪ Police say the motive for the killing was an unpaid drug debt.
▪ She was suspicious. Was there an ulterior motive behind his request?
▪ The motive behind the killing of Agnes Law was robbery.
▪ Whatever your motives for coming over, I'm glad you did.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ However, if the prosecution does not raise it as a motive for murder the defence is unlikely to challenge this.
▪ In an age when information is power, there are clear motives for archiving.
▪ Marty social services are simply not well suited to companies whose basic motive is profit.
▪ Morris said that police have not determined a motive in the attack.
▪ Nor does it provide a rationale for people with questionable motives to vent their hostilities or express their idiosyncrasies.
▪ Police are investigating but said they had no clue as to the motive.
▪ There is an obvious social motive behind explanations with a sharing function.
II.adjective
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ It was the motive force that powered the world.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Motive

Motive \Mo"tive\, n. [F. motif, LL. motivum, from motivus moving, fr. L. movere, motum, to move. See Move.]

  1. That which moves; a mover. [Obs.]
    --Shak.

  2. That which incites to action; anything prompting or exciting to choise, or moving the will; cause; reason; inducement; object; motivation[2].

    By motive, I mean the whole of that which moves, excites, or invites the mind to volition, whether that be one thing singly, or many things conjunctively.
    --J. Edwards.

  3. (Mus.) The theme or subject; a leading phrase or passage which is reproduced and varied through the course of a comor a movement; a short figure, or melodic germ, out of which a whole movement is develpoed. See also Leading motive, under Leading. [Written also motivo.]

  4. (Fine Arts) That which produces conception, invention, or creation in the mind of the artist in undertaking his subject; the guiding or controlling idea manifested in a work of art, or any part of one.

    Syn: Incentive; incitement; inducement; reason; spur; stimulus; cause.

    Usage: Motive, Inducement, Reason. Motive is the word originally used in speaking of that which determines the choice. We call it an inducement when it is attractive in its nature. We call it a reason when it is more immediately addressed to the intellect in the form of argument.

Motive

Motive \Mo"tive\, v. t. To prompt or incite by a motive or motives; to move.

Motive

Motive \Mo"tive\, a. Causing motion; having power to move, or tending to move; as, a motive argument; motive power. ``Motive faculty.''
--Bp. Wilkins.

Motive power (Mach.), a natural agent, as water, steam, wind, electricity, etc., used to impart motion to machinery; a motor; a mover.

Related phrases:
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
motive

mid-14c., "something brought forward," from Old French motif "will, drive, motivation," noun use of adjective, literally "moving," from Medieval Latin motivus "moving, impelling," from Latin motus "a moving, motion," past participle of movere "to move" (see move (v.)). Meaning "that which inwardly moves a person to behave a certain way" is from early 15c.

motive

late 14c., from Old French motif "moving" or directly from Medieval Latin motivus "moving, impelling," from past participle stem of movere "to move" (see move (v.)).

Wiktionary
motive

  1. 1 Causing motion; having power to move, or tending to move; as, a motive argument; motive power. 2 Relating to motion and/or to its cause n. 1 (context obsolete English) An idea or communication that makes one want to act, especially from spiritual sources; a divine prompting. (14th-17th c.) 2 An incentive to act in a particular way; a reason or emotion that makes one want to do something; anything that prompts a choice of action. (from 15th c.) 3 (context obsolete rare English) A limb or other bodily organ that can move. (15th-17th c.) 4 (context legal English) Something which causes someone to want to commit a crime; a reason for criminal behaviour. (from 18th c.) v

  2. (context transitive English) To prompt or incite by a '''motive''' or motives; to move.

Related phrases:
WordNet
motive

  1. n. the psychological feature that arouses an organism to action toward a desired goal; the reason for the action; that which gives purpose and direction to behavior; "we did not understand his motivation"; "he acted with the best of motives" [syn: motivation, need]

  2. a theme that is elaborated on in a piece of music [syn: motif]

motive

  1. adj. causing or able to cause motion; "a motive force"; "motive power"; "motor energy" [syn: motive(a), motor]

  2. impelling to action; "it may well be that ethical language has primarily a motivative function"- Arthur Pap; "motive pleas"; "motivating arguments" [syn: motivative(a), motive(a), motivating]

Related phrases:
Wikipedia
Motive

Motive may refer to:

Motive (algebraic geometry)

In algebraic geometry, a motive (or sometimes motif, following French usage) denotes 'some essential part of an algebraic variety'. To date, pure motives have been defined, while conjectural mixed motives have not. Pure motives are triples (X, p, m), where X is a smooth projective variety, p : X ⊢ X is an idempotent correspondence, and m an integer. A morphism from (X, p, m) to (Y, q, n) is given by a correspondence of degree n – m.

As far as mixed motives, following Alexander Grothendieck, mathematicians are working to find a suitable definition which will then provide a "universal" cohomology theory. In terms of category theory, it was intended to have a definition via splitting idempotents in a category of algebraic correspondences. The way ahead for that definition has been blocked for some decades by the failure to prove the standard conjectures on algebraic cycles. This prevents the category from having 'enough' morphisms, as can currently be shown. While the category of motives was supposed to be the universal Weil cohomology much discussed in the years 1960-1970, that hope for it remains unfulfilled. On the other hand, by a quite different route, motivic cohomology now has a technically adequate definition.

Motive (Red Box album)

Motive is the second album from Red Box and was released in 1990.

Motive (TV series)

Motive is a Canadian police procedural drama television series that premiered on CTV on February 3, 2013, immediately following Super Bowl XLVII. The series premiere had 1.23 million viewers, making it the number one Canadian series premiere of the 2012–13 season. On June 2, 2015, the series was renewed for a fourth and final season of 13 episodes, which premiered on March 22, 2016.

Motive (law)

A motive, in law, especially criminal law, is the cause that moves people to induce a certain action. Motive, in itself, is not an element of any given crime; however, the legal system typically allows motive to be proven in order to make plausible the accused's reasons for committing a crime, at least when those motives may be obscure or hard to identify with. However, a motive is not required to reach a verdict. Motives are also used in other aspects of a specific case, for instance, when police are initially investigating.

The law technically distinguishes between motive and intent. "Intent" in criminal law is synonymous with Mens rea, which means the mental state shows liability which is enforced by law as an element of a crime. "Motive" describes instead the reasons in the accused's background and station in life that are supposed to have induced the crime. Motives are often broken down into three categories; biological, social and personal.

Related phrases:

Usage examples of "motive".

Pitts watched me for a few minutes, then picked up a bucket and ambled into the ladies room, his motives unknown.

It is perfectly justifiable, artistically, to lay the scene of a novel in a workhouse or a gaol, but if the humanitarian impulse leads to any embroidery of or divergence from the truth, the novel is artistically injured, because the selection and grouping of facts should be guided by artistic and not by philanthropic motives.

The inhabitants, instead of deserting their houses, or hiding their corn, supplied the Romans with a fair and liberal market: the civil officers of the province continued to exercise their functions in the name of Justinian: and the clergy, from motives of conscience and interest, assiduously labored to promote the cause of a Catholic emperor.

His object was to prove that the assignment was not in the deed when Talbott got it: but it was discovered he could not swear this safely, without first swearing the deed was opened--and if he swore it was opened, he must show a motive for opening it, and the conclusion with him and his father was that the pointing out the error would appear the most plausible.

Adams again adduces the argument, that he could not have forged the assignment, for the reason that he could have had no motive for it.

Could we see as cogent a motive for asseverating his guilt as we find for his insisting upon his innocence, we should lend as much credence to the one as to the other.

Arlbery she was but slightly offended, though certain she had been assuring him of all the success he could demand: her way of thinking upon the subject had been openly avowed, and she did justice to the kindness of her motives.

Between them, they had made it look to the press as if Edwards had personally sunk the Barracuda, either because he had designed faulty equipment or from more sinister motives.

During the three or four days in question, Bernard lingered on at Baden, uncertain what to do or where to go, feeling as if he had received a sudden check-- a sort of spiritual snub--which arrested the accumulation of motive.

The force of example was now added to the existing motives for change, and the notion of transferring the privileges of a corrupt borough to an unrepresented place, or giving the elective franchise to a populous town, was discarded.

But she soon had it reasoned out that her preconceptions in this regard were no doubt due to the stylizing nature of the mythopoeic process itself, which simplified character and motive just as it compressed time and space, so that one imagined Perseus to be speeding tirelessly and thoughtlessly from action to bravura action, when in fact he must have weeks of idleness, hours of indecision, et cetera.

Stone and Breger are not happy with the offer and they are going to scour the landscape looking for more of a motive.

Nevertheless, he sent orders to the count de Montijo, his ambassador at London, to communicate to his Britannic majesty the motives which had induced him to take these resolutions.

There were motives in it of fats, butyric acid, alcohols, mineral oils, heated rubber, and singed leather, to a broadly-handled accompaniment of charred feathers, lightened by suggestions of crisped flesh.

I do, therefore, venture to say, that in embarking for Greece, he was not entirely influenced by such exoterical motives as the love of glory or the aspirations of heroism.