moor Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun one of the Muslim people of north Africa; of mixed Arab and Berber descent; converted to Islam in the 8th century; conqueror of Spain in the 8th century
  2. noun open land usually with peaty soil covered with heather and bracken and moss
    moorland.
  3. verb secure in or as if in a berth or dock
    berth; tie up.
    • tie up the boat
  4. verb come into or dock at a wharf
    berth; wharf.
    • the big ship wharfed in the evening
  5. verb secure with cables or ropes
    • moor the boat

WordNet

Moor noun
Etymology
F. More, Maure, L. Maurus a Moor, a Mauritanian, an inhabitant of Mauritania, Gr. cf. black, dark. Cf. Morris a dance, Morocco.
Definitions
  1. One of a mixed race inhabiting Morocco, Algeria, Tunis, and Tripoli, chiefly along the coast and in towns.
  2. (Hist.) Any individual of the swarthy races of Africa or Asia which have adopted the Mohammedan religion. "In Spanish history the terms Moors, Saracens, and Arabs are synonymous." Internat. Cyc.
Moor noun
Etymology
OE. mor, AS. mor moor, morass; akin to D. moer moor, G. moor, and prob. to Goth. marei sea, E. mere. See Mere a lake.
Definitions
  1. An extensive waste covered with patches of heath, and having a poor, light soil, but sometimes marshy, and abounding in peat; a heath.
    In her girlish age she kept sheep on the moor. Carew.
  2. A game preserve consisting of moorland.
Moor transitive verb
Etymology
Prob. fr. D. marren to tie, fasten, or moor a ship. See Mar.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Moored ; present participle & verbal noun Mooring
Definitions
  1. (Naut.) To fix or secure, as a vessel, in a particular place by casting anchor, or by fastening with cables or chains; as, the vessel was moored in the stream; they moored the boat to the wharf.
  2. Fig.: To secure, or fix firmly. Brougham.
Moor intransitive verb
Definitions
  1. To cast anchor; to become fast.
    On oozy ground his galleys moor. Dryden.

Webster 1913