moonshine 
2. Figuratively (as light without heat), show 
without substance or reality; pretense; empty 
show ; fiction : as, that's all moonshine. 
Labouring for nothings, and preaching all day for shad- 
ows and moonshine. Jer. Taylor, Works (ed. 1835), II. 128. 
You may discourse of Hermes' ascending spirit, of Or- 
pheus' enchanting harpe, of Homer's divine furie, . . . 
and I wott not what marvelous egges in mooneshine. 
Harvey, Pierce's Supererogation. 
3. A month. [Burlesque and rare.] 
I am some twelve or fourteen moonshines 
Lag of a brother. Shak., Lear, i. 2. 5. 
4f. A dish of poached eggs served with a sauce. 
Draw, you rogue ; for, though it be night, yet the moon 
shines ; I'll make a sop o' th' moonshine of you. 
Shak., Lear, ii. 2. 36. 
5. Smuggled spirits : so called as beingbrought 
in or taken away at night. [Prov. Eng. and 
southern U. S.] 
At Piddinghoe they dig for moonshine. 
N. and Q., Oth ser., IX. 401. 
II. a. 1. Illuminated by the moon. [Rare.] 
I was readie to set fourth about eight of the clocke at 
night, being a faire moone thine night. 
Hakluyt's Voyages, II. 100. 
2. Nocturnal. [Rare.] 
You moonshine revellers. Shale., 11. W. of W., v. 6. 42. 
3. Empty; trivial. 
moonshiner (mon'shi"ner), n. One who pursues 
a dangerous or illegal trade at night, as a smug- 
gler ; specifically, in the southern United States, 
an illicit distiller. Also called moonlighter. 
moonshining (mon'shi // ning), n. [< moonshine 
+ -ing 1 . Cf. moonshiner.] Illicit distilling. 
[U. S.] 
The poet and the novelist . . . might (if they shut their 
eyes) make this season [of hop-picking] as romantic as vin- 
tage-time on the Rhine, or moonshining on the Southern 
mountains. C. D. Warner, Their Pilgrimage, p. 288. 
moonshiny (mon'shv''ni), a. [< moonshine + 
-y 1 .] 1. Illuminated by moonlight. 
1 went to see them in a moonshiny night. Addison. 
2. Visionary; unreal; fictitious; nonsensical. 
Here were no vague moonshiny ideals. 
The Century, XXXI. 186. 
moon-sickt (mon'sik), a. Crazy; lunatic. Da- 
vies. 
If his itch proceed from a moon-sic* head, the chief in- 
tention is to settle his brains. 
Ken. T. Adams, Works, I. 602. 
moonstone (mSn'ston), n. [= D. maansteen = 
Or. mondstein = S w. m&nsten = Dan. maanesten ; 
as moon 1 + stone.] A variety of feldspar which 
by reflected light presents a delicate pearly play 
of color not unlike that of the moon, it belongs 
in part to a variety of orthoclase called adularia, but in 
part also to albite or oligoclase. It is often cut and used 
for ornamental purposes. The finest specimens (adularia) 
come from Ceylon. 
moonstricken (mon' striken), a. Same as 
moonstruck. 
Happily the moonstricken prince had gone a step too far. 
Brougham. 
moonstruck (mon'struk), a. Affected or re- 
garded as affected in mind or health by the light 
of the moon ; lunatic ; crazed ; dazed. 
Demoniac phrensy, moping melancholy, 
And moon-struck madness. Milton, P. L, xi. 486. 
A moonstruck, silly lad, who lost his way, 
And, like his bard, confounded night with day. 
Byron, Eng. Bards and Scotch Reviewers. 
Some of the transcendental Republican Germans were 
honest enough in their moon-struck theorizing. 
The Century, XXXVIII. 690. 
moon-trefoil (m6n'tre"foil), n. The tree-medic, 
Medicago arborea, a shrubby evergreen species, 
native in Italy, cultivated in gardens. It is said 
to increase the secretion of milk in cattle. 
moonwort (mon'wert), n. A fern, Botrychium 
Lunaria. See lunaryV, 2, and cut under Botry- 
chium Hemlock-leafed moonwort, the American 
fern in cultivation, Botrychium Virginianwm: so called 
from the resemblance of the fronds to the leaves of the 
hemlock. 
moony (mo'ni), a. and n. [Formerly also moon- 
ey; < moon 1 + -y 1 .] I. a. 1. Like a moon, (a) 
Crescent-shaped. (6) Round : used of a shield. 
Nor bear the helm, nor lift the moony shield. 
Dryden, Iliad, xiii. 
2f. Bearing or f urnished with a orescent as an 
emblem, badge, or standard ; having the cres- 
cent as a standard. 
If they once perceive, or understand 
The moony standards of proud Ottoman 
To be approaching. 
Sylvester, tr. of Du Bartas's Weeks, i. 2. 
3. Giving light like that of the moon ; resem- 
bling moonlight. 
3852 
Soft and pale is the moony beam. 
J. R. Drake, Culprit Fay. 
The moony vapour rolling round the king, 
Who seem'd the phantom of a Giant in it. 
Tennyson, Guinevere. 
4. Lighted by the moon. 
Leave tenantless thy crystal home, and fly, 
With all thy train, athwart the moony sky. 
Poe, Al Aaraaf. 
5. Bewildered or silly, as if moonstruck; hazy. 
Violent and capricious or moony and insipid. 
George Eliot, Daniel Deronda, xxii. 
6. Sickly; of weak bodily constitution. [Prov. 
Eng.] 7. Intoxicated; tipsy. [Colloq.] 
fl. n. A simpleton; a noodle. [Colloq.] 
mopnya (mon'ya), re. [E. Ind.] A fiber ob- 
tained in India from a, grass of the genus Arun- 
do. It is used for making ropes and twine. The 
split stalks are made into the durma mats of 
Calcutta. 
moon-year (mon'yer), n. A lunar year, 
nioop (mop), v. i. [Cf. mump 1 .'] To nibble. 
[Scotch.] 
But aye keep mind to moop an' mell 
Wi' sheep o' credit like thysel'. 
Burna, Death of Poor Mailie. 
moor 1 (ni6r), n. [= Sc. muir; < ME. moore, more, 
< AS. mor, waste land, a field, a marsh, fen, 
also high waste ground, a mountain-waste, = 
OS. mor = D. moer, a morass, = LG. mor = 
OHG. MHG. muor, a fen, rarely a lake, G. moor 
(< LG.), a fen, moor, = Icel. mor (gen. mos), 
orig. *morr, a moor, heath, peat, = Sw. Dan. 
mor, a moor ; prob. related to AS. mere = OHG. 
meri = Goth, marei, etc., a lake, mere, = L. mare, 
sea: see mere 1 .] 1. A tract of open, unfilled, 
and more or less elevated land, often overrun 
with heath. 
A medowe called the lake medowe, w 1 a more therto ad- 
ioyning called lake medowe more. 
English Gilds (E. E. T. S.), p. 237. 
We'll sing auld Coila's plains and fells, 
Her moors red-brown wi' heather bells. 
Burns, To W. Simpson. 
2. A tract of land on which game is strictly 
preserved for the purposes of sport. 3. Any 
uninclosed ground. Halliwell. [Prov. Eng.] 
[Not used in any sense in U. S.]=8yn. 1. Morass, 
etc. See marsh. 
moor 2 (mor), v. [Prob. (with a change of vowel 
not satisfactorily explained) < D. marren, for- 
merly maren, tie. bind, moor (a ship), hinder, 
retard, = E. mar 1 : see mar 1 .] I. trans. 1. To 
confine or secure (a ship) in a particular station, 
as by cables and anchors or by lines; specifi- 
cally, to secure (a ship) by placing the anchors 
so that she will ride between them, thus occu- 
pying the smallest possible space in swinging 
round. 
They therefore not only moored themselves strongly by 
their anchors, but chained the sides of their gallies to- 
gether. Raleigh, Hist. World, V. L 3. 
2. To secure ; fix firmly. 
Neva of the banded isles, 
We moor our hearts in thee ! 
0. W. Holmes, America to Russia. 
Mooring anchor. See anchori. TO moor head and 
stern, to secure (a ship) with one or more cables leading 
from the bows and with others from the stern. To moor 
with an open hawse. See hawsei. 
II. intrans. 1. To be held by cables or 
chains. [Rare.] 
On oozy ground his galleys moor. 
Dryden, JSneid, vi. 
2. To fasten or anchor a boat or ship. 
The pilot of some small night-foundered skiff, 
Deeming [leviathan] some island, oft, as seamen tell. 
With fixed anchor in his scaly rind 
Moors by his side under the lee. Milton, P. L., i. 207. 
moor 2 (mor), n. [< moor 2 , >.] The act of moor- 
ing A flying moor, the act of mooring while under 
way, by first letting go an anchor and veering twice as 
much cable as is needed, then letting go the second an- 
chor and, while veering its chain, heaving in half the 
cable veered on the first one. 
moor 3 (mor), a. A dialectal form of more 1 . 
Tennyson . 
Moor 4 (mor), n. [Early mod. E. also Moore, 
More; < ME. More, Moore, Mmvre = D. Moor = 
MLG. 3for = OHG. MHG. Mor, G. Molir = Sw. 
Dan. Mor (cf. equiv. MLG. Marian = Dan. and 
Sw. Morian, Dan. also Maurer) = F. More, also 
Ma lire = Pr. Mor = Sp. Moro = Pg. Mouro = 
It. Moro, < L. Maurus, ML. also Menu, < Gr. 
Maiipof, a Moor; perhaps <,uatJpof, a/mvpof, dark 
(see amaiirosis); but perhaps the name was of 
foreign origin. Cf. blackamoor. Hence Morian, 
Moresque, Morisco, morris 1 .] 1. One of a dark 
race dwelling in Barbary in northern Africa. 
They derive their name from the ancient Mauri or Mauri- 
tanians (see Mauritanian), but the present Moors are a 
mooring 
mixed race, chiefly of Arab and Mauritanian origin. The 
name is applied especially to the dwellers in the cities. 
The Arabic conquerors of Spain were called Moors. 
The folk of that Contree ben blake y now, and more 
Make than in the tother partie ; and thei ben clept Mowres. 
Mandevule, Travels, p. 156. 
The Sea-coast- Moors, called by a general name Baduini: 
which in Arabia and Egypt is the title of the people that 
Hue in the Champaine and Inland Countries. 
Purchas, Pilgrimage, p. 087. 
Hence 2. A dark-colored person generally; 
a negro ; a black. 
O hold thy hand, thou savage moor, 
To hurt her do forbear. 
The Cruel Black (Child's Ballads, III. 374). 
Between us we can kill a fly 
That comes in likeness of a coal-black Moor. 
Shak., Tit. And., iii. 2. 78. 
Moor's head, in her., the head of a negro, represented in 
profile unless otherwise stated in the blazon, usually hav- 
ing a heraldic wreath about the head and an ear-ring in 
the ear ; a blackamoor's head. 
moor 5 (mor), n. [Manx.] An officer in the Isle 
of Man who summons the courts for the several 
districts or sheadings. Wharton. 
moor 8 (mor), n. [Cf. maire, mayor, in same 
sense in Rom.] A bailiff of a farm. ffaWiwell. 
[North. Eng.] 
moorage (mor'aj), re. [< woo?' 2 + -age.] A place 
for mooring. [Rare.] 
moor-ball (mor'bal), n. A curious sponge-like 
ball found at the bottom of fresh-water lakes, 
and consisting of plants of an alga, Conferva 
JEgagropila. It consists of a mass of branched articu- 
lated green threads, resembling the hair-balls sometimes 
found in the stomach of ruminants. 
moorband (mor'band), . Same as moorpan. 
moorberry (mor'ber"i), n. See cranberry, 1. 
moor-blackbird (mor'blak'berd), a. The ring- 
ouzel, Turdus torquatus or Merula torquata. 
moor-bred (mor'bred), a. Produced on moors. 
When, as from snow-crown'd Skidow's lofty cliffs 
Some fleet-wing'd haggard, tow'rds her preying hour. 
Amongst the teal and moor-bred mallard drives. 
Drayton, Barons' Wars, vi. 66. 
moor-buzzard (mor'buz"ard), n. The marsh- 
harrier, Circus arrwginosus : so called from fre- 
quenting moors. See cut under marsh-harrier. 
moor-coal (mor'kol), n. In geol., a friable vari- 
ety of lignite. 
moor-COCk (mor'kok), . The male moor-fowl. 
moor-COOt (mor'kot), n. Same as moor-hen, 2. 
Moor-dance (mor'dans), n. Same as Morisco, 3. 
Moorery (mor'fer-i), w. [< Moor^ + -ery, after 
Sp. moreria, < Moro, Moor. Cf . Jewry.] A quar- 
ter or district occupied by Moors. [Rare.] 
They arose and entered the moorery, and slew many 
moors, and plundered their houses. 
Southey, Chron. of the Cid (1808), p. S86. (Davies.) 
Mooress (mor'es), n. [< Moor* + -ess.] A fe- 
male Moor. 
moor-fowl (mor'foul), n. 1. Same as moor- 
game. 2. The ruffed grouse. J. Bartram, 
1791. [South Carolina.] 
moor-game (mor'gam), n. The Scotch grouse 
or red-game, Lagopus scoticus. See cut under 
grouse. 
moor-grass (mor'gras), n. The grass Sesleria 
coerulea. It is widely spread throughout Europe in moun- 
tain pastures. A cotton-grass, Eriophorum anguxtifoliuin, 
and other diverse plants, have also been so called. Pur- 
ple moor-grass. See Molinia. 
moor-hawk (mor'hak), n. The moor-buzzard 
or marsh-hawk, Circus ceniginosus. 
moor-heath (mor'heth), n. Heath of several 
species, especially Erica vagans, also called 
Cornish heath. See heath, 2. 
moor-hen (mor'hen), n. 1. The female moor- 
fowl. 2. The common British gallinule or 
water-hen, Gallinula chloropus. Also moor-coot. 
3. The American coot, Fulica americana. 
moor-ill (mor'il), n. A certain disease to 
which cattle are subject. Also called red- 
water. [Scotch.] 
Though he helped Lambside's cow weel out o' the moor- 
ill, yet the lonping-ill 's been sairer amang his sheep than 
ony season before. Scott, Black Dwarf, x. 
mooring (mor'ing), n. [Verbal n. of moor 2 , v.] 
1 . Kant. : (a) The act of securing a ship or boat 
in a particular place by means of anchors, etc. 
There is much want of room for the safe and convenient 
mooring of vessels, and constant access to them. 
Burke, A Regicide Peace, iii. 
(6) Mostly in the plural, that by which a ship is 
confined or secured, as the anchors, chains, and 
bridles laid athwart the bottom of a river or har- 
bor : as, she lay at her moorings. Hence, gen- 
erally 2. That to which anything is fastened, 
or by which it is held. 
My moorings to the past snap one by one. 
Lowell, To G. W. Curtis. 
