moonraker

[moon-rey-ker]

noun

Also called moonsail

[moon-suh l, -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

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for moonraker

Historical Examples of moonraker

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
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

British Dictionary definitions for moonraker

moonraker

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

Word Origin and History for moonraker

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.