All 5 Uses

motive
in
Running in the Family
(Auto-generated)

'The golden skins have
caught my mind'
who came here
out of the bleached land
climbed this fortress
to adore the rock
and with the solitude of the air
behind them
carved an alphabet
whose motive was perfect desire
wanting these portraits of women
to speak
and caress.†
p. 93.3 *

motive = reason (for doing something)
When he asked Lalla if Brumphy was good-looking—trying humorously to suggest some motive for her protecting him—she replied, "Good looking?†
p. 116.5
Who knows, this may have been Lalla's ulterior motive.†
p. 118.6
After about ten minutes he still isn't over this bizarre motive for the visit.†
p. 157.3
Her motive was to cure my father of manic alcoholic consumption.†
p. 171.2

Definitions:

(1) (motive as in: What is her motive?)
a reason for doing something
(2) (meaning too rare to warrant focus)
Less commonly, motive can refer to something that causes motion in an inanimate object. Even less commonly, it can refer to a distinctive feature in music, art, or literature.