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.

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moa British  

/ ˈməʊə /

noun

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

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Etymology

Origin of moa

Borrowed into English from Maori around 1810–20

Example Sentences

Does the moa mean the same thing to them in 2025 that it did 800 years ago, when it was an important source of food and material for making ornaments and tools?

From Slate • Aug. 8, 2025

Over the following centuries, the Native Hawaiians, or kanaka maoli, developed a complex, regenerative and self-sufficient agricultural system in their new home, and the moa proliferated.

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

New Zealand is believed to have been the site of many gigantic birds that later became extinct, including the world’s largest parrot, a giant eagle and an emu-like bird called the moa.

From Washington Times • Aug. 14, 2019

A no ka ike ana o ka Makaula i kela hoailona, ku ae la oia a hopu he wahi puaa, he moa lawa, me ka puawa, e hoomakaukau ana no ka hiki mai o Aiwohikupua.

From The Hawaiian Romance Of Laieikawai by Beckwith, Martha Warren