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moa

American  
[moh-uh] / ˈmoʊ ə /

noun

  1. any of several flightless birds of the family Dinornithidae, of New Zealand, related to the kiwis but resembling the ostrich: extinct since about the end of the 18th century.


moa British  
/ ˈməʊə /

noun

  1. any large flightless bird of the recently extinct order Dinornithiformes of New Zealand See ratite

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of moa

Borrowed into English from Maori around 1810–20

Vocabulary lists containing moa

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Colossal’s latest announcement was that it has hatched 26 chickens in an “artificial egg” — a “foundational step,” it said, “toward resurrecting extinct bird species” such as the New Zealand giant moa and the dodo.

From Los Angeles Times • May 21, 2026

The fake moa effort isn’t conservation at all.

From Slate • Aug. 8, 2025

That has left the surplus native moa, forgotten, free to flourish.

From Washington Post • Jun. 8, 2022

The Haast’s eagle went extinct around 1400 when its prey, the flightless moa, was hunted into extinction by Maori settlers.

From New York Times • Nov. 30, 2021

Dinornis, or moa, recent extirpation of, in New Zealand, 95.

From Man and Nature or, Physical Geography as Modified by Human Action by Marsh, George P.

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