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moan
- 6 dictionary resultsmoan
[mohn] 
–noun
| 1. | a prolonged, low, inarticulate sound uttered from or as if from physical or mental suffering. |
| 2. | any similar sound: the moan of the wind. |
| 3. | complaint or lamentation. |
–verb (used without object)
| 4. | to utter moans, as of pain or grief. |
| 5. | (of the wind, sea, trees, etc.) to make any sound suggestive of such moans: The wind moaned through the trees. |
–verb (used with object)
| 6. | to utter (something) inarticulately or pitifully, as if in lamentation: He moaned his response. |
| 7. | to lament or bemoan: to moan one's fate. |
Origin:
1175–1225; ME mone, man(e) (n.), OE *mān, inferred from its deriv. mǣnan to mourn
1175–1225; ME mone, man(e) (n.), OE *mān, inferred from its deriv. mǣnan to mourn
Related forms:
moanful, adjective
moan⋅ful⋅ly, adverb
moan⋅ing⋅ly, adverb
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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|
Link To moan
| moan (mōn) n.
v. intr.
[Middle English mone, from Old English *mān; see mei-no- in Indo-European roots.] |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Moan
Moan\ (m[=o]n), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Moaned (m[=o]nd); p. pr. & vb. n. Moaning.] [AS. m[=ae]nan to moan, also, to mean; but in the latter sense perh. a different word. Cf. Mean to intend.]1. To make a low prolonged sound of grief or pain, whether articulate or not; to groan softly and continuously. Unpitied and unheard, where misery moans. --Thomson. Let there bechance him pitiful mischances, To make him moan. --Shak. 2. To emit a sound like moan; -- said of things inanimate; as, the wind moans.Moan
Moan\, v. t. 1. To bewail audibly; to lament. Ye floods, ye woods, ye echoes, moan My dear Columbo, dead and gone. --Prior. 2. To afflict; to distress. [Obs.] Which infinitely moans me. --Beau. & Fl.Moan
Moan\, n. [OE. mone. See Moan, v. i.]1. A low prolonged sound, articulate or not, indicative of pain or of grief; a low groan. Sullen moans, hollow groans. --Pope. 2. A low mournful or murmuring sound; -- of things. Rippling waters made a pleasant moan. --Byron.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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moan
c.1225, as a noun, "complaint, lamentation," probably related to O.E. mænan "complain, moan," also "tell, intend," from P.Gmc. *main- (but O.E.D. discounts this connection). Meaning "long, low inarticulate murmur from some prolonged pain" is first recorded 1673. The verb is first attested c.1425 as "to complain," 1724 as "to make a low, mournful sound."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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