All 12 Uses

motive
in
The Girl on the Train
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And I know, because I saw that kiss, that he has a motive to kill her.†
p. 134.9

motive = reason (for doing something)
Of course, he might not know that he has a motive, but ...Oh, I've tied myself up in knots thinking about it, but how could I pass up the opportunity to approach that house, the one I've observed a hundred times from the trackside, from the street?†
p. 134.9
They say that there is no evidence of a sexual motive for the killing.†
p. 202.5
I know what they mean— they mean they don't think she was raped, which is a blessing, of course, but that doesn't mean there wasn't a sexual motive.†
p. 202.6
That's a sexual motive, isn't it?†
p. 202.8
I have a motive.†
p. 229.4
The "sources" also speculate that this could be a motive for her murder.†
p. 244.6
Of course it is, but it gives someone a motive, doesn't it?†
p. 251.9
That's what they're saying: Megan killed her baby, which would give someone—the father of the child, presumably-a motive to kill her.†
p. 252.1 *
If he thought it was his baby, it gives him a motive, doesn't it?†
p. 253.3
And I don't say this, either it gives Scott a motive, too.†
p. 253.4
It never sounded to me like a likely motive in any case-if someone wanted to punish her for what she'd done back then, they'd have done it years ago.†
p. 302.6

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.