moo
Americanverb (used without object)
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moos,
present (3rd person singular)
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mooed,
past participle, past
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mooing
present participle
noun
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moos
plural
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
Alsop took a painterly approach to Mahler’s many details — birdsong and bells, dewdrop harps, the lowing moo of a tuba.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 20, 2023
Across the river I heard a cow moo.
From "Where the Red Fern Grows" by Wilson Rawls
Reaves moos back before he can find out.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 13, 2022
DAMINIYA, Nigeria — Hundreds of horned cattle wandered back to camp after a long day of grazing, their moos sounding more like wails.
From New York Times ● Sep. 22, 2018
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
The robot was answered by a chorus of moos.
From "The Wild Robot Escapes" by Peter Brown
Events keep drifting like a lost motorist who starts out on the interstate and takes a series of wrong turns until he’s on a one-lane dirt road, getting mooed at.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
Does it put them in the mooed for this week’s Slate News Quiz?
From Slate ● Nov. 18, 2022
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
So, perhaps regularly eating meat that's never mooed, oinked, or encountered a farm may be a logical next step?
From BBC ● Oct. 31, 2021
Sophie mooed, which sparked Butter mooing, and Caleb had never quite stopped crying his dog song.
From "Gone Crazy in Alabama" by Rita Williams-Garcia
They were heckled, told to sit down and mooing sounds were made at them.
From BBC ● Apr. 9, 2023
One of the animals included is cow, which adds a moment of levity to the story when we learn about the Bigfeet’s mooing call.
From Slate ● Jan. 28, 2023
“It’s a mooing with this kind of metallic ring to it.”
From New York Times ● Nov. 27, 2022
Picked as a playful joke by the late fire district board member Alfred Aya Jr., the mooing sound is a riff off the system’s acronym.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 3, 2022
If it was a mild day, Miss Bessie would be mooing nervously, from across the fence.
From "Bridge to Terabithia" by Katherine Paterson
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
