moon Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun the natural satellite of the Earth
    • the average distance to the Moon is 384,400 kilometers
    • men first stepped on the moon in 1969
  2. noun any object resembling a moon
    • he made a moon lamp that he used as a night light
    • the clock had a moon that showed various phases
  3. noun the period between successive new moons (29.531 days)
    lunation; synodic month; lunar month.
  4. noun the light of the Moon
    moonlight; moonshine.
    • moonlight is the smuggler's enemy
    • the Moon was bright enough to read by
  5. noun United States religious leader (born in Korea) who founded the Unification Church in 1954; was found guilty of conspiracy to evade taxes (born in 1920)
    Sun Myung Moon.
  6. noun any natural satellite of a planet
    • Jupiter has sixteen moons
  7. verb have dreamlike musings or fantasies while awake
    daydream.
    • She looked out the window, daydreaming
  8. verb be idle in a listless or dreamy way
    moon on; moon around.
  9. verb expose one's buttocks to
    • moon the audience

WordNet

Moon noun
Etymology
OE. mone, AS. mona; akin to D. maan, OS. & OHG. mano, G. mond, Icel. mani, Dan. maane, Sw. måne, Goth. mena, Lith. men, L. mensis month, Gr. moon, month, Skr. mas moon, month; prob. from a root meaning to measure (cf. Skr. ma to measure), from its serving to measure the time. *271. Cf. Mete to measure, Menses, Monday, Month.
Definitions
  1. The celestial orb which revolves round the earth; the satellite of the earth; a secondary planet, whose light, borrowed from the sun, is reflected to the earth, and serves to dispel the darkness of night. The diameter of the moon is 2,160 miles, its mean distance from the earth is 240,000 miles, and its mass is one eightieth that of the earth. See Lunar month, under Month.
    The crescent moon, the diadem of night. Cowper.
  2. A secondary planet, or satellite, revolving about any member of the solar system; as, the moons of Jupiter or Saturn.
  3. The time occupied by the moon in making one revolution in her orbit; a month. Shak.
  4. (Fort.) A crescentlike outwork. See Half-moon.
Moon transitive verb
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Mooned ; present participle & verbal noun Mooning
Definitions
  1. To expose to the rays of the moon.
    If they have it to be exceeding white indeed, they seethe it yet once more, after it hath been thus sunned and mooned. Holland.
Moon intransitive verb
Definitions
  1. To act if moonstruck; to wander or gaze about in an abstracted manner.
    Elsley was mooning down the river by himself. C. Kingsley.

Webster 1913