Meaning & use
moon
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Meanings
nounsingular
The large round object that travels around the Earth and shines in the night sky.
Grammar: Usually the moon; capital M in scientific writing.
Patterns
- the moon
- a full moon
The moon was bright enough to read by.
Astronauts first walked on the Moon in 1969.
A thin crescent moon hung above the hills.
nouncountabletechnical
A natural object that travels around a planet other than Earth.
Grammar: Countable, lowercase: Jupiter has dozens of moons.
Patterns
- a moon of Saturn
Jupiter has dozens of moons.
Europa is a moon of Jupiter.
Scientists think life might exist on one of Saturn's moons.
verbintransitiveinformal
To spend time in a dreamy, aimless way, especially because you are thinking about someone you love.
Grammar: Often followed by about, around or over: she mooned over him.
Patterns
- moon about
- moon over someone
He spent the summer mooning over his classmate.
Stop mooning around and do your homework.
She was mooning about the house all afternoon.
verbtransitive or intransitiveinformalhumorous
To show your bare buttocks to people as a rude joke.
Grammar: Can take a person as object: he mooned the crowd.
Patterns
- moon someone
A teenager mooned the passing train.
The prank got them in trouble when they mooned the teacher.
He was banned for mooning at the match.
Word forms
| plural | moons |
|---|---|
| third person singular | moons |
| past tense | mooned |
| past participle | mooned |
| -ing form | mooning |
Common combinations
- full moon
- Wolves howled under the full moon.
- new moon
- There is little light at the new moon.
- moon rises
- The moon rose over the harbor.
- moon landing
- My grandfather remembers the moon landing.
- moon over someone
- She mooned over him for weeks.
Synonyms and how they differ
- satellite
- Satellite is the technical term for any object orbiting another, including man-made ones, while moon is the everyday word.
- daydream
- Daydream describes any wandering thoughts, while moon (verb) implies longing, often for a person.
- pine
- Pine means to long for someone with real sadness, whereas moon is lighter and can sound mocking.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: moon or month?
moon vs month
Month comes from the old word for the moon's cycle but now means a calendar division. A moon is the object in the sky.
Practice
Instead of studying, Jake spent the afternoon ___ over his new crush.
Choose one answer.
Mooning over someone means dreamily thinking about them. Musing could fit loosely but is not followed by over in this sense, and moving and mooring do not fit.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “moon”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.