the first movable
Preserved but no longer current.
See PRIMUM MOBILE. To move the adjournment of the House (i.e. the House of Commons). To bring forward a motion of adjournment, which can only be done in certain special circumstances. This is the only method by which the rules of the House allow a member to bring up, without notice, business which is not on the order paper.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “the first movable” mean?
See PRIMUM MOBILE. To move the adjournment of the House (i.e. the House of Commons). To bring forward a motion of adjournment, which can only be done in certain special circumstances. This is the only method by which the rules of the House allow a member to bring up, without notice, business which is not on the order paper.
Is “the first movable” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.