moat

CEFRB2

/məʊt/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A deep, wide ditch around a castle, usually filled with water.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    A circular lowland between a resurgent dome and the walls of the caldera surrounding it.

Examples

  • A moat was dug around the castle to thwart attackers.

  • Many castles are encircled by a moat.

At a glance

Sits at B2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
3
Synonyms
1

Also pronounced

  • /moʊt/

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. 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.

  2. A deep, wide defensive ditch, normally filled with water, surrounding a fortified habitation.

  3. A clear ring outside the eyewall of a tropical cyclone.

More examples

In context

  • Most castles have a moat surrounding them.

  • No matter how good your company's product is or how quickly the industry is growing, if there is no moat, competitors will invade your castle and burn it down.

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The ancient castle was surrounded by a wide blank filled with water.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

From Middle English mote, from Old French mote (“mound, embankment”); compared also to 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 A...