'Moat' definitions:
Definition of 'moat'
(from WordNet)
noun
Ditch dug as a fortification and usually filled with water [syn: moat, fosse]
Definition of 'Moat'
From: GCIDE
- Moat \Moat\, n. [OF. mote hill, dike, bank, F. motte clod, turf: cf. Sp. & Pg. mota bank or mound of earth, It. motta clod, LL. mota, motta, a hill on which a fort is built, an eminence, a dike, Prov. G. mott bog earth heaped up; or perh. F. motte, and OF. mote, are from a LL. p. p. of L. movere to move (see Move). The name of moat, properly meaning, bank or mound, was transferred to the ditch adjoining: cf. F. dike and ditch.] (Fort.) A deep trench around the rampart of a castle or other fortified place, sometimes filled with water; a ditch. [1913 Webster]
Definition of 'Moat'
From: GCIDE
- Moat \Moat\, v. t. To surround with a moat. --Dryden. [1913 Webster]
Definition of 'moat'
From: GCIDE
- Ditch \Ditch\ (?; 224), n.; pl. Ditches. [OE. dich, orig. the same word as dik. See Dike.]
- 1. A trench made in the earth by digging, particularly a trench for draining wet land, for guarding or fencing inclosures, or for preventing an approach to a town or fortress. In the latter sense, it is called also a moat or a fosse. [1913 Webster]
- 2. Any long, narrow receptacle for water on the surface of the earth. [1913 Webster]
Synonyms of 'moat'
From: Moby Thesaurus
- abri,
- abysm,
- abyss,
- approach trench,
- aqueduct,
- arch dam,
- arroyo,
- backstop,
- bamboo curtain,
- bank,
- bar,
- barrage,
- barrier,
- bear-trap dam,
- beaver dam,
- boom,
- box canyon,
- breach,
- break,
- breakwater,
- breastwork,
- brick wall,
- buffer,
- bulkhead,
- bulwark,
- bunker,
- canal,
- canalization,
- canyon,
- cavity,
- channel,
- chap,
- chasm,
- check,
- chimney,
- chink,
- cleft,
- cleuch,
- clough,
- cofferdam,
- col,
- communication trench,
- coulee,
- couloir,
- countermine,
- coupure,
- crack,
- cranny,
- crevasse,
- crevice,
- crimp,
- cut,
- cwm,
- dam,
- defense,
- defile,
- dell,
- dike,
- ditch,
- donga,
- double sap,
- draw,
- dugout,
- earthwork,
- embankment,
- entrenchment,
- excavation,
- fault,
- fence,
- fire trench,
- fissure,
- flaw,
- flume,
- flying sap,
- fortified tunnel,
- fosse,
- foxhole,
- fracture,
- furrow,
- gallery,
- gap,
- gape,
- gash,
- gate,
- goffer,
- gorge,
- gravity dam,
- groin,
- groove,
- gulch,
- gulf,
- gully,
- gutter,
- ha-ha,
- hole,
- hydraulic-fill dam,
- incision,
- iron curtain,
- jam,
- jetty,
- joint,
- kennel,
- kloof,
- leak,
- leaping weir,
- levee,
- logjam,
- milldam,
- mine,
- mole,
- mound,
- notch,
- nullah,
- opening,
- parallel,
- parapet,
- pass,
- passage,
- pleat,
- portcullis,
- rampart,
- ravine,
- rent,
- rift,
- rime,
- roadblock,
- rock-fill dam,
- rupture,
- sap,
- scissure,
- seam,
- seawall,
- shutter dam,
- slit,
- slit trench,
- slot,
- split,
- stone wall,
- sunk fence,
- trench,
- trough,
- tunnel,
- valley,
- void,
- wadi,
- wall,
- weir,
- wicket dam,
- work