Short answer. A motion is defined as an application for relief other than by a pleading. It seeks something from the court — such as an order or ruling on a specific matter — without asserting the claims or defenses that a complaint or answer is used to raise in the case.
What the law says
A motion is an application for relief other than by a pleading.
Rule 15, Section 1 — Motion defined. Read the full provision →
A definition built by contrast
This provision defines a motion by what it is not: relief sought through a pleading. Pleadings — complaints, answers, and similar documents — are the papers that frame the substantive claims and defenses of a case from the outset. A motion, by contrast, is simply an application for relief, whatever that particular relief might turn out to be, so long as it is not something accomplished through a pleading in the first place.
Why the distinction matters procedurally
Motions and pleadings are governed quite differently elsewhere throughout the Rules — for instance, in how each must be written, what specific content each must contain, and how each is served on the opposing side and eventually acted upon by the court. Knowing whether a particular request should properly be raised as a motion, or instead folded into a pleading, directly affects which set of procedural requirements ends up applying to it.
The breadth of 'application for relief'
The definition itself is deliberately broad — simply an application for relief, without narrowing down in advance what specific kind of relief that must be. This intentional breadth is precisely why motions come in so many different varieties throughout the course of litigation, from purely procedural requests like postponement all the way to substantive ones like dismissal, all sharing the common underlying thread of being sought by application rather than through a pleading.
Setting up the rest of the Rule
This opening definition establishes the basic category that the rest of the governing provisions on motions then build directly on top of — requirements covering writing, content, hearing notices, and specific named types like non-litigious and omnibus motions all presuppose this basic foundational understanding of what a motion actually is in the first place. Without this starting point, none of those later, more detailed rules would have anything concrete to attach to.
How courts apply this definition in practice
When a party files something with the court, one of the first practical questions is whether it should be treated as a motion or folded into a pleading — a request to extend a filing deadline, for instance, is plainly an application for relief and belongs in a motion, while an allegation that the defendant breached a contract belongs in the complaint itself. Courts routinely look past the label a party gives a document and ask instead whether, in substance, it is seeking relief apart from a pleading or asserting a claim or defense within one.