Moor
/muə/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
Noun:
- A tract of open uncultivated upland: An area of open, often high land, typically characterized by peaty soil, heather, bracken, and moss. It is a type of heathland.
- A member of a Muslim people of mixed Arab and Berber descent: Historically, a member of the Muslim population of northwest Africa, particularly those who conquered the Iberian Peninsula in the 8th century.
Verb:
- To secure a boat or ship in a particular place: To fasten a vessel to a fixed object or anchor using ropes, cables, or chains.
- To come to or be at a wharf or dock: To bring a vessel to a pier or similar structure and secure it there.
Usage Examples
Noun (Land):
- The hikers trekked across the windswept moor.
- The novel is set on the bleak, foggy moors of Yorkshire.
Noun (People):
- The Moors established a sophisticated civilization in Al-Andalus (Spain).
Verb (To secure a vessel):
- We need to moor the sailboat before the storm arrives.
- The captain ordered the crew to moor the ship to the buoy.
Verb (To be at a wharf):
- The ferry will moor at the island's main dock at noon.
Advanced Usage
"To be moored": To be securely fastened in place.
- The yacht was safely moored in the harbor.
"Mooring" (noun): The act of securing a vessel; also, the place where a vessel is moored or the equipment (e.g., ropes, buoys) used for this purpose.
- The boat broke free from its mooring during the gale.
Variants and Related Words
Moorland (n): Another term for an extensive area of moor.
- The conservation project aims to protect the local moorland.
Mooring (n): As defined above.
- Unmoor (v): To release a vessel from its moorings.
- They will unmoor the ship at dawn.
Synonyms
- Noun (Land): Heath, heathland, fell (Northern England), upland.
- Verb (To secure): Tie up, berth, dock, secure, anchor, fasten.
Related Phrasal Verbs
- Moor up: To moor a boat, especially at a specific place.
- Let's find a quiet spot to moor up for the night.
Related Idioms
- "To be cast adrift/moored in the past": While not a direct idiom with "moor," the verb's concept is used metaphorically. "Moored in the past" suggests being fixed or stuck in bygone times, unable to move forward.
- His thinking is moored in the past and resistant to new ideas.
Noun
- open land usually with peaty soil covered with heather and bracken and moss
- one of the Muslim people of north Africa; of mixed Arab and Berber descent; converted to Islam in the 8th century; conqueror of Spain in the 8th century
Verb
- secure with cables or ropes
- moor the boat
- come into or dock at a wharf
- the big ship wharfed in the evening
- secure in or as if in a berth or dock
- tie up the boat