moccasin

[ mok-uh-sin, -zuhn ]
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noun
  1. a heelless shoe made entirely of soft leather, as deerskin, with the sole brought up and attached to a piece of u-shaped leather on top of the foot, worn originally by the American Indians.

  2. a hard-soled shoe or slipper resembling this, often decorated with beads.

  1. any of several North American snakes of the genus Agkistrodon (Ancistrodon), especially the cottonmouth.

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Origin of moccasin

1
1605–15, Americanism;<Virginia Algonquian < Proto-Algonquian *maxkeseni

Words Nearby moccasin

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use moccasin in a sentence

  • It was a brightly beaded moccasin, very small, and strangely familiar even at a distance.

    A Virginia Scout | Hugh Pendexter
  • "Well, we came fast, but I see that we did not get here in time to help you," said Black moccasin.

    Three Sioux Scouts | Elmer Russell Gregor
  • Bet he never saw an orioles' nest or found a wild pink moccasin.

    Patchwork | Anna Balmer Myers

British Dictionary definitions for moccasin

moccasin

/ (ˈmɒkəsɪn) /


noun
  1. a shoe of soft leather, esp deerskin, worn by North American Indians

  2. any soft shoe resembling this

  1. NZ a sheepshearer's footgear, usually made of sacking

  2. short for water moccasin

Origin of moccasin

1
C17: from Algonquian; compare Narraganset mocussin shoe

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012