mosey
Americanverb (used without object)
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to wander or shuffle about leisurely; stroll; saunter (often followed by along, about, etc.).
-
to leave quickly; decamp.
verb
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
moseysimple
-
moseyssimple
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have moseyedperfect
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has moseyedperfect
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am moseyingprogressive
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are moseyingprogressive
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is moseyingprogressive
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have been moseyingperfect progressive
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has been moseyingperfect progressive
Past
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moseyedsimple
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had moseyedperfect
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was moseyingprogressive
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were moseyingprogressive
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had been moseyingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of mosey
An Americanism dating back to 1820–30; origin uncertain
Explanation
When you mosey, you stroll along in no particular hurry. You might mosey down the street to the town pool on a hot summer day. People mosey when they're in no rush to get where they're going. You're more likely to mosey over to the book store on a Saturday than you are to mosey to work when you're running late. The verb mosey is early-1800s American slang with an uncertain origin. Some experts think it comes from the British slang mose, "to go about in a dull, stupid way," while others see a connection to the Spanish vamos, or "let us go."
Vocabulary lists containing mosey
Bunnicula
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The Color of Water
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The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
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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:
Cows may mosey into their barns for bedtime.
From New York Times ● Apr. 4, 2024
There are already plenty of places in the capital where a mosey around merely needs a mouse.
From BBC ● Nov. 8, 2023
We’ll got here first and then mosey on over to the actual farmers market.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 15, 2023
The college football season brings out devoted Jackson State fans who watch away games on the bistro’s flat-screen TVs or mosey over from the stadium after home games.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 4, 2022
“Thought I’d mosey on down to Alfred’s early,” she explained.
From "The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs" by Betty G. Birney
Ringo Starr moseys up to the restaurant at the Sunset Marquis in a spotless white cowboy hat and matching white denim jacket.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 6, 2024
Tim, an African spurred tortoise, moseys near the rabbit hutch.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 8, 2023
In other words, what could have been a taut, gripping, emotional story ends up being diluted by a surrounding narrative that meanders and moseys to the point of irrelevance.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 12, 2021
She moseys, she circles, she lies in wait.
From New York Times ● Oct. 13, 2020
Rusty, he just grins and moseys down the road, while I goes back to see the show, feelin' about as much to home, after that run in, as a stray pup in church.
From Side-stepping with Shorty by Ford, Sewell
That afternoon, I tagged along with Kaylee Aleu, 19, and Chloe Wangensteen, 21, as they moseyed around a quad filled with students and alumni who had set up camp before the game.
From Slate ● Oct. 30, 2024
Neighbors excitedly waved and honked their horns as he moseyed alongside lowriders.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 4, 2022
Whether the mystery brute registered my sweaty presence or not, it soon moseyed through my semi-primitive campsite and back into the woods.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 9, 2021
They ambled halls, strolled stairs, marched in place, squatted, hopped or otherwise moseyed about in whatever way they found convenient, tolerable and not overly distracting or amusing to their co-workers.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 8, 2021
I moseyed toward my desk and lightly picked up a cookie, afraid that its very touch might bruise my skin.
From "Sir Fig Newton and the Science of Persistence" by Sonja Thomas
Quite a few readers mentioned what I’ll call the Free Pass advantage. of moseying along the home stretch of life.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 19, 2024
Their first crack at it, they were kind of moseying down that water.
From Salon ● Dec. 25, 2023
The delegation left without further discussion, moseying back to the helipad to join the pilot, who’d never left her seat.
From Slate ● Dec. 16, 2023
Instead of "moseying through" he was now trying to make every day "as good as it could possibly be".
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2023
We were nicely strung out where you saw those graves on that last ridge of sand-hills, when there they were about a mile ahead of us, moseying along.
From Cattle Brands A Collection of Western Camp-fire Stories by Adams, Andy
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
