march1

 
Pronunciation: /mɑːtʃ/

verb

[no object, usually with adverbial of direction]
  • walk in a military manner with a regular measured tread: thousands marched behind the coffin
  • walk quickly and with determination: without a word she marched from the room
  • [with object and adverbial of direction] force (someone) to walk somewhere quickly: she gripped Rachel’s arm and marched her through the door
  • walk along public roads in an organized procession as a form of protest: unemployed workers marched from Jarrow to London they planned to march on Baton Rouge
  • (of something abstract) proceed or advance inexorably: time marches on

noun

  • an act or instance of marching: the relieving force was more than a day’s march away
  • a piece of music composed to accompany marching or with a rhythm suggestive of marching: he began to hum a funeral march
  • a procession organized as a protest: a protest march
  • [in singular] the steady and inevitable development or progress of something: the march of history

Phrases

march to (the beat of) a different tune (or drummer)

informal consciously adopt a different approach or attitude to the majority of people: he has always marched to a different tune but this time his perversity may be his undoing

on the march

marching: the army was on the march at last
making progress: United are on the march again

Origin:

late Middle English: from French marcher 'to walk' (earlier 'to trample'), of uncertain origin