moo
Americanverb (used without object)
noun
verb
interjection
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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moosimple
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moossimple
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have mooedperfect
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has mooedperfect
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am mooingprogressive
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are mooingprogressive
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is mooingprogressive
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have been mooingperfect progressive
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has been mooingperfect progressive
Past
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mooedsimple
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had mooedperfect
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was mooingprogressive
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were mooingprogressive
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had been mooingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of moo
First recorded in 1540–50; imitative
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:
A distant moo came from beyond a hill.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026
With the afternoon sun beating down while the cows snort and moo, the workers inspect and clean the animals' teats, which are then attached to milking equipment.
From BBC ● Feb. 19, 2026
“They moo a lot and poop a bit, but other than that, they’re pretty good workers,” Yancey says.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 18, 2023
From kefta kebabs and tandoori chicken skewers to lamb souvlaki, Thai moo ping and negima yakitori, my hand will always gravitate to anything grilled on a stick.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 7, 2022
As we passed from the barn, we heard the muffled and frightened moo of the cow, the frantic squealing of pigs, and the rustle and cackle of hens and roosters.
From "When I Was Puerto Rican" by Esmeralda Santiago
Think about it: What other restaurant in the world has a cow-shaped cheese cart that moos?
From Washington Post ● Dec. 10, 2021
A few steps away, thousands of Holstein cows looked on, their moos audible over the industrial whir of the manure separator.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 9, 2020
Last week, the Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter-rapper posted a short clip on Twitter and Instagram in which she dances in a cow costume and quite literally moos over some swelling harmonies and jazz guitar.
From Slate ● Aug. 15, 2018
For example: Betty White: “It moos and makes milk.”
From Time ● Sep. 14, 2016
Low moos and whinnies from outside, the buzz of gossip, the clatter of heels on the cobblestones.
From "Bone Gap" by Laura Ruby
Cooper said the cows ultimately "ended up wandering back home. And I kid you not, one cow mooed — then the other cows mooed."
From Fox News ● Mar. 3, 2022
“We don’t vote, and we just try to pray for our leaders,” she said as her cows mooed loudly and one of her six children called out to her as he tinkered with a wrench.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 9, 2019
Some events were quite visible, including the experience of a participant who reported being mooed at in a grocery store.
From Slate ● Nov. 7, 2014
In the future, your beef may come from a printer, not a cow When you buy some beef at the butcher's, you know it comes from cattle that once mooed and chewed.
From BBC ● Jan. 21, 2013
The cow mooed, and he recoiled, crouching and grabbing the ladder with both hands to steady himself.
From "Fablehaven" by Brandon Mull
The sound of mooing and a pressure washer could be heard.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 12, 2026
Sure, they were pretty convincing, the creatures lurching and, weirdly, mooing through the woods of Michigan and Pennsylvania and Georgia and Washington state.
From Slate ● Jan. 28, 2023
Residents in Glasgow housing estates could soon be hearing the sound of mooing cows and clucking hens outside their homes.
From BBC ● Dec. 8, 2022
“It’s a mooing with this kind of metallic ring to it.”
From New York Times ● Nov. 27, 2022
On the way home—with Dad still singing away in the back, extending the word “low” so long he sounded like a mooing cow—the man asked me about school.
From "The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls
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.
