From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishmotivatemo‧ti‧vate /ˈməʊtɪveɪt $ ˈmoʊ-/ ●●○ verb [transitive] 1 CAUSEto be the reason why someone does something SYN drive Was he motivated solely by a desire for power?motivate somebody to do something We may never know what motivated him to kill his wife.2 ENTHUSIASTICto make someone want to achieve something and make them willing to work hard in order to do this A good teacher has to be able to motivate her students.motivate somebody to do something The profit-sharing plan is designed to motivate the staff to work hard.→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
motivate• It's frustration that motivates babies to learn to walk.• It's often more difficult to motivate boys than girls.• He was motivated by a desire to help his fellow man.• Many in the Asian community feel that the police actions were motivated by racial bias.• Not all people are motivated by self-interest.• Ironically, it was the fear of congressional action against noncitizens that had finally motivated him to apply for citizenship.• It was abhorrence of waste of any kind of resource that motivated him.• It may even motivate his crowd.• Haguellar had successfully used the Davis Cup carrot to motivate his lower ranked players.• Every good teacher knows that criticism does not motivate learners.• To motivate others to implement their decisions, they need strong leadership qualities.• I don't know what motivates people to commit such crimes.• What can we do to motivate the players?• Only one third of workers said their supervisors know what motivates them to do their best work.• Whatever motivates you is most likely to motivate your people too.motivate somebody to do something• The program aims to motivate teenage mothers to stay in school.From Longman Business Dictionarymotivatemo‧ti‧vate /ˈməʊtəveɪtˈmoʊ-/ verb [transitive]1HUMAN RESOURCESto encourage someone and make them want to work hardThe profit-sharing plan is designed to motivate the staff.motivate somebody to do somethingThe project manager may have problems in motivating people to work for him.2to be the reason why someone does somethingWhat motivates a customer to buy a small green apple as opposed to a large red one?Investors are primarily motivated to invest in a company’s shares on the basis of the company’s likely profitability. —motivating adjectiveA significant motivating factor for managers is the right to have authority over a particular area of work.→ See Verb table 