moat
Plural: moats
Noun
- ditch dug as a fortification and usually filled with water
- A deep, wide defensive ditch, normally filled with water, surrounding a fortified habitation.
- An aspect of a business which makes it more "defensible" from competitors, because of the nature of its products, services or franchise or for some other reason.
- A circular lowland between a resurgent dome and the walls of the caldera surrounding it.
- A clear ring outside the eyewall of a tropical cyclone.
- A hill or mound.
Verb
Verb Forms: moated, moating, moats
- To surround a place with a defensive ditch, often filled with water.
- To surround with a moat.
Examples
- He tried to MOAT off the triple-word score, preventing his opponent from using it.
Origin / Etymology
From Middle English mote, from Old French mote (“mound, embankment”); compare also Old French motte (“hillock, lump, clod, turf”), from Medieval Latin mota (“a mound, hill”), of Germanic origin, perhaps via Frankish *mot, *motta (“mud, peat, bog, turf”), from Proto-Germanic *mutô, *mudraz, *muþraz (“dirt, filth, mud, swamp”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)mut- (“dark, dirty”).
Cognate with Alemannic German Mott, Mutte (“peat, turf”), Bavarian Mott (“peat, turf”), dialectal Dutch mot (“dust, fine sand”), Saterland Frisian mut (“grit, litter, humus”), Swedish muta (“to drizzle”), Old English mot (“speck, particle”). More at mote, mud, smut.
As term for a business strategy, popularized by American investor Warren Buffett.
Synonyms
Scrabble Score: 6
moat: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Wordmoat: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
moat: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary