movies

movies — noun

1. films that people watch for entertainment, whether on a big screen, on televisio

1.名詞A1
釋義

films that people watch for entertainment, whether on a big screen, on television, or online.

例句

Kwame spent the flight watching old movies on the seat-back screen.

watch movies on [screen/device]

After dinner, Tara chose two scary movies for family movie night.

two + adjective + movies

同義詞
  • films

    a close equivalent, often slightly more neutral or international

  • pictures

    older-fashioned entertainment word, common in classic Hollywood talk

  • flicks

    more playful and informal than 'movies'

文法句型

watch movies

rent movies

movies about [topic]

用法筆記

This is the general plural of 'movie' when you mean films as things people watch. Distinguish it from sense 2, which is the fixed expression 'the movies' for a cinema outing or the theater itself.

常見錯誤

❌We watched a funny movies last night.
✅We watched a funny movie last night.
💡after 'a', use the singular form because you mean one film.

2. the activity of going out to watch a film at a cinema, or the movie theater itse

2.名詞B1
釋義

the activity of going out to watch a film at a cinema, or the movie theater itself, especially in the phrase 'the movies'.

例句

Rania and Aaron are going to the movies after their final exam.

go to the movies

We met outside the movies and bought popcorn before the first show.

outside the movies

同義詞
  • cinema

    more common in British English and can mean the theater or the art form

  • movie theater

    names the building more directly than the outing

  • picture house

    older term for a cinema building

文法句型

go to the movies

be at the movies

take somebody to the movies

用法筆記

This sense normally appears with 'the'. In modern American English it often means the whole outing, not only the building, so 'go to the movies' is closer to 'go and see a film' than simply 'go to a theater'.

常見錯誤

❌We went to movies after lunch.
✅We went to the movies after lunch.
💡this fixed expression almost always needs 'the'.

3. the world of making, selling, and promoting films, including the people and comp

3.名詞B2
釋義

the world of making, selling, and promoting films, including the people and companies behind them.

例句

Ayana hopes to work in the movies after film school.

work in the movies

A strike in the movies delayed several summer releases.

in the movies = film industry

同義詞
  • film industry

    the clearest neutral label for the business side

  • show business

    broader term that includes theater, television, and music as well

  • Hollywood

    often used metonymically for the American movie industry

文法句型

work in the movies

go into the movies

money in the movies

用法筆記

This sense treats 'the movies' as an industry, similar to 'show business' or 'the film world'. Distinguish it from sense 2, which is about going to a theater, and from sense 1, which is about the films themselves.

常見錯誤

❌She wants to work on the movies after college.
✅She wants to work in the movies after college.
💡for a career in the film business, English normally uses 'in', not 'on'.