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moonraker

[moon-rey-ker]
noun
  1. Also called moonsail [moon-suh l, -seyl] /ˈmun səl, -ˌseɪl/. Nautical. a light square sail set above a skysail.
  2. a simpleton.
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Origin of moonraker

First recorded in 1780–90; moon + raker1
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for moonraker

Historical Examples

  • 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

  • I expect Mr. Heeler's waiting for you in "Moonraker's," father.

    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

  • A Moonraker is also the nickname for a native of Wiltshire, and a very silly story is told there as its origin.

British Dictionary definitions for moonraker

moonraker

noun
  1. nautical a small square sail set above a skysail
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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

Word Origin and History for moonraker

n.

in England, a name traditionally given to Wiltshire people, attested from 1787, is from the stock joke about fools who mistook the reflection of the moon in a pond for a cheese and tried to rake it out. But as told in Wiltshire, the men were surprised trying to rake up kegs of smuggled brandy, and put off the revenuers by acting foolish.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper