moat
Americannoun
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a deep, wide trench, usually filled with water, surrounding the rampart of a fortified place, such as a town or a castle.
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any trench, such as one used for confining animals in a zoo.
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a competitive advantage a business has in its field.
The company's moat was reduced when the patent on the devices they sold expired.
noun
verb
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of moat
First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English mote, from Old French: “clod, mound,” of obscure origin
Explanation
Not many houses these days have a moat — it's a trench dug outside a castle and is usually full of water. A moat means "Keep out!" You're most likely to hear about moats if you read a fairy tale or a history of medieval times. This water-filled ditch is one of the lines of defense for a castle. In the old days, it was pretty effective. If you filled the moat with a deadly fish — like a piranha — that was an even better defense. A moat is pretty much the opposite of a welcome mat.
Vocabulary lists containing moat
The One and Only Ivan
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The Roman and Byzantine Empires, Lessons 5–7
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Shouting at the Rain
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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.
“When you become the biggest stock in the world, there’s a target on your back from people trying to chip away at your moat, and I think that’s part of what we’re seeing.”
From MarketWatch • Jul. 7, 2026
However, Majumdar told MarketWatch that investors are “still debating” whether or not AI will expand the company’s moat.
From MarketWatch • Jul. 7, 2026
It still needs to scale and maintain a defensive moat around an important market.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 15, 2026
Macy’s ultimate moat might be the physical shopping experience, which is making a comeback.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 4, 2026
“They’re telling me the same stuff. I think...I think this moat must be the border of Night’s territory. If we get across, we should be okay. We’ll have to jump.”
From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan
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.
