COMMON If someone moves on to pastures new, they leave their present place or situation and move to a new one. Michael decided he wanted to move on to pastures new for financial reasons. I found myself packing a suitcase and heading for pastures new. Note: You can also talk about moving on to new pastures or fresh pastures. No matter how much we long for new pastures, when we reach them they can seem like a bad idea. Note: This is a quotation from `Lycidas' (1638) by the English poet Milton: `At last he rose, and twitch'd his Mantle blew: Tomorrow to fresh Woods, and Pastures new.' This is sometimes wrongly quoted as `fresh fields and pastures new'.