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Definition of "moat" []

  • A deep wide ditch, usually filled with water, typically surrounding a fortified medieval town, fortress, or castle as a protection against assault. (noun)
  • A ditch similar to one surrounding a fortification: A moat separates the animals in the zoo from the spectators. (noun)
  • To surround with or as if with a moat. (verb-transitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "moat" in a sentence
  • "That is a characteristic he has long sought in investments, which he calls a "moat" against competition."
  • "Saving the day on the other side of the moat is my skinny-ass Haitian neighbor Gustav, he literally pulls me up along the dirt out the moat!"
  • "Mr. GLASSMAN: I would put -- we recommend putting most of it or let's say $50 or $60 of it into growth stocks; that is to say larger companies that have shown in the past that they can increase their earnings at a pretty good clip and have a-- what we call a moat around their business, a kind of a franchise."