# migrating

**Pronunciation:** /ˈmaɪ.ɡreɪ.tɪŋ/ · MY-gray-ting

**CEFR level:** B2

**Part of speech:** verb (present participle)

## Meaning 1: Movement and Biology

Moving from one region or habitat to another, especially on a seasonal basis or in search of better living conditions.

## Examples

- Many species of birds are currently migrating across the continent to escape the freezing temperatures.
- The company is migrating its entire database to a cloud-based server to improve efficiency.
- Nomadic tribes have been migrating through these plains for centuries in pursuit of seasonal grazing lands.

## Meaning 2: Computing

Transferring data or software from one system or environment to another.

## Examples

- The IT department is migrating user accounts to the new security platform tonight.
- We are migrating our legacy applications to a modern cloud infrastructure.
- The process of migrating large datasets can take several days to complete.

## Synonyms

- moving — A very general term for any change of location.
- shifting — Often implies a gradual or slight change in position or focus.
- relocating — Specifically used for people or businesses moving to a new permanent home or base.
- translocating — A technical term used in ecology or medicine for moving something to a different place.

## Common patterns

- migrating from [place] to [place] — describing the origin and destination of movement — The herd is migrating from the northern tundra to the southern valleys.
- be migrating — used in continuous tenses to describe ongoing seasonal or technical movement — Thousands of whales are migrating past the coast this month.

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