moonraker

[ moon-rey-ker ]

noun

Also called moonsail [moon-suhl, -seyl]. /ˈmun səl, -ˌseɪl/. Nautical. a light square sail set above a skysail.
a simpleton.

Origin of moonraker

First recorded in 1780–90; moon + raker¹

Words Nearby moonraker

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

How to use moonraker in a sentence

A moonraker is also the nickname for a native of Wiltshire, and a very silly story is told there as its origin.
The History of Signboards | Jacob Larwood
I expect Mr. Heeler's waiting for you in "moonraker's," father.
Hobson's Choice | Harold Brighouse
So that, if you stay more than an hour in the moonraker's Inn, you'll be late for it.
Hobson's Choice | Harold Brighouse
Let's go to the "moonraker's" and forget there's such a thing as women in the world.
Hobson's Choice | Harold Brighouse

British Dictionary definitions for moonraker

moonraker

/ (ˈmuːnˌreɪkə) /

noun

nautical a small square sail set above a skysail

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

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