mooring

[ moo r-ing ]

/ ˈmʊər ɪŋ /

the act of a person or thing that moors.

Usually moorings. the means by which a ship, boat, or aircraft is moored.

moorings, a place where a ship, boat, or aircraft may be moored.

Usually moorings. one's stability or security: After the death of his wife he lost his moorings.

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transliterate

1375–1425; late Middle English; compare Middle Dutch moor; see moor², -ing¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

If, however, our religion implicates itself in a political cause, it links its credibility to the most transient of moorings.
The Illusory Promise of Apolitical Theology|David Sessions|June 2, 2012|DAILY BEAST
No surprise, then, that having slipped the moorings of a common reality it slipped the moorings of a common decency as well.
How British Tabloids Lost Their Way|Howard Jacobson|July 22, 2011|DAILY BEAST
Sometimes it seemed as if she were tugging at her moorings, longing to be off on the long, long cruise.
Through the South Seas with Jack London|Martin Johnson
Slowly the gallant ship come round the breakwater to her moorings.
New Zealanders at Gallipoli|Major Fred Waite

The gale having blown offshore, the boat had dragged her moorings, and was so far out that Ready could not get at her.
Masterman Ready|Captain Frederick Marryat
So he went to his ship, and made haste to free her from her moorings.
Stories and Ballads of the Far Past|Nora Kershaw
In the sunlit calms, riding at our moorings, much we discussed eternity and creation.
The Reckoning|Robert W. Chambers

moorings

/ (ˈmʊərɪŋz, ˈmɔː-) /

nautical the ropes, anchors, etc, used in mooring a vessel

(sometimes singular) something that provides security or stability

mooring

/ (ˈmʊərɪŋ, ˈmɔː-) /

a place for mooring a vessel

a permanent anchor, dropped in the water and equipped with a floating buoy, to which vessels can moor