From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishprime moverˌprime ˈmover noun [countable] 1 someone who helps to make something happen and has great influence in the way it developsprime mover in/of/behind He was a prime mover in the bid to get better pay for West Indian cricketers. She was a prime mover of social change in the 19th century.2 → Prime Mover
Examples from the Corpus
prime mover• Kohl always wanted to be seen as a prime mover for European unity.• The press had become a prime mover in determining government policy and influencing public opinion.• The other prime mover was that the slump is now in its dying throes.• In Krashen's theory, acquisition is the grand initiator of messages and the prime mover in communication.• If Darwin were alive today, he would surely place mankind as the prime mover in global evolution.• The prime mover was George Dodson.• I congratulate you, prime mover!prime mover in/of/behind• The press had become a prime mover in determining government policy and influencing public opinion.• What does the woman do when she realizes her father / husband / boss is a prime mover in her misery?• In Krashen's theory, acquisition is the grand initiator of messages and the prime mover in communication.• If Darwin were alive today, he would surely place mankind as the prime mover in global evolution.• Since Public Opinion is supposed to be the prime mover in democracies, one might reasonably expect to find a vast literature.• The prime mover of all generation is said to be the goddess Necessity, who occupies the centre of the universe.Prime MoverPrime Movera way of referring to God → prime moverExamples from the Corpus
Prime Mover• Spike couldn't rant against the Prime Mover.• Aristotle proposes that the Primum Mobile turns as a result of a craving for perfection generated in it by the Prime Mover.• If she believed in the Prime Mover she would be praying.• The universe is animated by an all-pervasive aspiration to a higher state, a greater perfection as embodied in the Prime Mover.• He must place his trust in the Prime Mover.• This is a holy war, and only the Prime Mover can decide who lives and who dies.• But I think there's a more powerful force in this universe than the Prime Mover.• When our life systems are terminated we will again return to the Prime Mover. 