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.
See Examples For:
Palantir’s competitive moat also lies in its ability to combine and organize data for customers “without sacrificing their integrity, privacy and security,” according to Luria.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 2, 2026
"This gives them profitability that helps to produce a moat between them and smaller firms" who cannot maintain the same level of spending and research investment, he said.
From Barron's ● Jun. 29, 2026
This digital infrastructure is a significant moat for Palantir, Larry Goldberg, managing partner of venture-capital firm Lumasenti, told MarketWatch earlier this week.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 25, 2026
Software stacks or data may be less of a moat on their own unless coupled with some of the above.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 10, 2026
There was a large hidden trap-door in the floor of the barbican, which would let them into the moat after all.
From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White
Arya expects that Nvidia’s earnings report in August will show investors that the company still has “its moats in products, pricing and supply chain,” he said.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 8, 2026
Success requires breaking through large customers’ loyalties and Nvidia’s defensive moats.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 19, 2026
VanEck CEO Jan Van Eck argues the memory-chip stocks don’t have competitive moats, and notes their profit explosion is driven by temporary pricing power over sales volumes.
From MarketWatch ● May 27, 2026
JPMorgan and Bank of America, in particular, have created competitive moats that will be tough to undo.
From Barron's ● May 7, 2026
Their villages and towns were spacious, formal, and guarded by moats and palisades.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
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.
