waning moon

noun

the moon at any time after the full moon and before the new moon, so called because its illuminated area is decreasing. Compare waxing moon ( def ).

First recorded before 1000; Middle English; Old English

A waning moon had risen, and in its faint light the water of the brook glimmered coldly as it wimpled over the stony ford.

Then, without a slip, the monoplane was off in the light of the waning moon.

Another half-hour and the waning moon rose, throwing a beam of light into their chamber; also they heard horse's hoofs again.

Dawn came slow, silent, and majestic into the cloudless sky, where a thin sickle of waning moon hung.

The air was tingling with windless cold, and ghostly white with the light of a crooked, waning moon.

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