moa
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of moa
Borrowed into English from Maori around 1810–20
Vocabulary lists containing moa
Australia and New Zealand - Introductory
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Australia and New Zealand - Middle School and High School
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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.
Do all Māori want the moa to return?
From Slate • Aug. 8, 2025
Honestly, we kanaka don’t mind the moa so much.
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
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.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
