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
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.
Creating reliable space technology isn’t easy, which is one reason SpaceX has a huge competitive moat.
From Barron's • May 22, 2026
It has a steady growth business with a competitive moat in scarce landfills, annuity-like revenue, and 90%-plus annual customer retention.
From Barron's • May 15, 2026
SoundHound is now in a better position to meet the market for voice AI, he said, as it builds “its data moat for voice AI.”
From MarketWatch • May 7, 2026
“None are making major profits on AI; none has a technical moat; a massive price war is inevitable. And few of their customers are seeing major returns on investment,” Marcus wrote.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 30, 2026
Kaz perched there, pressed against the wall and frowning out at the moat.
From "Six of Crows" by Leigh Bardugo
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.
