Library / English Dictionary

MOON

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Any natural satellite of a planet

Example:

Jupiter has sixteen moons

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Hypernyms ("moon" is a kind of...):

satellite (any celestial body orbiting around a planet or star)

Instance hyponyms:

Triton (the largest moon of Neptune)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The natural satellite of the Earth

Example:

men first stepped on the moon in 1969

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Instance hypernyms:

satellite (any celestial body orbiting around a planet or star)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Any object resembling a moon

Example:

the clock had a moon that showed various phases

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Hypernyms ("moon" is a kind of...):

object; physical object (a tangible and visible entity; an entity that can cast a shadow)

Derivation:

moon (expose one's buttocks to)

Sense 4

Meaning:

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)

Synonyms:

Moon; Sun Myung Moon

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Instance hypernyms:

religious leader (leader of a religious order)

Sense 5

Meaning:

The light of the Moon

Example:

the Moon was bright enough to read by

Synonyms:

Moon; moonlight; moonshine

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural phenomena

Hypernyms ("Moon" is a kind of...):

light; visible light; visible radiation ((physics) electromagnetic radiation that can produce a visual sensation)

Meronyms (parts of "Moon"):

moon-ray; moon ray; moonbeam (a ray of moonlight)

Derivation:

moony (lighted by moonlight)

Sense 6

Meaning:

The period between successive new moons (29.531 days)

Synonyms:

lunar month; lunation; moon; synodic month

Classified under:

Nouns denoting time and temporal relations

Hypernyms ("moon" is a kind of...):

month (a time unit of approximately 30 days)

Holonyms ("moon" is a part of...):

lunar year (a period of 12 lunar months)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Expose one's buttocks to

Example:

moon the audience

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Hypernyms (to "moon" is one way to...):

display; exhibit; expose (to show, make visible or apparent)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

moon (any object resembling a moon)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Be idle in a listless or dreamy way

Synonyms:

moon; moon around; moon on

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Hypernyms (to "moon" is one way to...):

idle; laze; slug; stagnate (be idle; exist in a changeless situation)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Sense 3

Meaning:

Have dreamlike musings or fantasies while awake

Example:

She looked out the window, daydreaming

Synonyms:

daydream; moon

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Hypernyms (to "moon" is one way to...):

idle; laze; slug; stagnate (be idle; exist in a changeless situation)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Sentence example:

Sam and Sue moon over the results of the experiment

Credits

 Context examples: 

A new Moon occurs when all of the Sun’s light is reflected away from Earth, and the side of the Moon facing Earth is barely visible, as illustrated in the above figures.

(Earthshine, NASA)

Powerful hydrothermal vents eject material from Enceladus' core, which mixes with water from the moon's massive subsurface ocean before it is released into space as water vapor and ice grains.

(New Organic Compounds Found in Enceladus Ice Grains, NASA)

No, said the moon, I cannot help thee but I will give thee an egg—break it when need comes.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

An asteroid, designated 2004 BL86, will safely pass about three times the distance of Earth to the moon on January 26.

(Asteroid to Fly By Earth on January 26, NASA)

Less than half the distance between Earth and moon separates Rosetta from its destination, comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

(Rosetta closing in on comet, NASA)

The number of asteroid impacts to the Moon and Earth increased by two to three times starting around 290 million years ago.

(Moon Data Sheds Light on Earth’s Asteroid Impact History, NASA)

Then she remembered how they had drawn mutually away before the revealing moon, and she knew he would know it for a lie.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

But you can't get her there; there is no road to the moon: it is all air; and neither you nor she can fly.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

The scud had banked over the moon, and it was now quite dark.

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

Right in front of him was the broad window of the chamber, with the moon shining brightly through it.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)