moss
any tiny, leafy-stemmed, flowerless plant of the class Musci, reproducing by spores and growing in tufts, sods, or mats on moist ground, tree trunks, rocks, etc.
a growth of such plants.
any of various similar plants, as Iceland moss or club moss.
Chiefly Scot. and North England. a swamp or bog.
to cover with a growth of moss: to moss a crumbling wall.
Origin of moss
1Other words from moss
- mosslike, adjective
- un·mossed, adjective
Words Nearby moss
Other definitions for Moss (2 of 2)
Howard, 1922–1987, U.S. poet, editor, and playwright.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use moss in a sentence
The more the virus replicates, the more opportunity it has to evolve around existing vaccines or natural immune responses to older variants, moss says.
Global inequity in COVID-19 vaccination is more than a moral problem | Jonathan Lambert | February 26, 2021 | Science Newsmoss provides credit cards and a spending platform to small and medium businesses in Germany.
Corporate credit card platform Moss raises $25.5 million | Romain Dillet | January 15, 2021 | TechCrunchIt’s Louisiana, so there’s some moss and the occasional palm tree.
Heisman winner DeVonta Smith puts tiny town of Amite City in the spotlight | Chuck Culpepper | January 7, 2021 | Washington PostWith moss’s guidance, they both leap wittily from animation to three dimensions.
Judy and Mickey would have loved the TikTok ‘Ratatouille’ — 2021’s answer to ‘Let’s put on a show!’ | Peter Marks | January 2, 2021 | Washington PostSo for many tens of millions of years, plants on land had to be happy sticking like moss to the surfaces of rocks.
Why Birds Can Fly Over Mount Everest - Issue 94: Evolving | Walter Murch | December 30, 2020 | Nautilus
In New York, district attorneys have a tendency to grow moss-bound in their roles.
Meet Dan Donovan, the Prosecutor Who Let Eric Garner’s Killer Walk | David Freedlander | December 5, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThey agreed to let McKell and moss join their tribe for a few days.
By the time the CFDA awards rolled round in early 1994, moss was a bona fide star.
Sex, Drugs, and Kate Moss: Secrets of a Wild Supermodel | Tom Sykes | October 9, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTCallahan claims that within weeks of leaving the Priory, moss “got back on drugs.”
Sex, Drugs, and Kate Moss: Secrets of a Wild Supermodel | Tom Sykes | October 9, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTHe pops from the screen as a charismatic, occasionally messianic “human prism,” as moss calls him.
He walked about, stumbling over sticks and stones and stumps, sometimes falling down on soft moss, and again on the hard ground.
Squinty the Comical Pig | Richard BarnumIt was the home that had sheltered her orphan childhood; she had never slept a night from under its moss-grown roof.
The World Before Them | Susanna MoodieThe large soft leaves and the pendent moss of the oaks were gray with dust, but the shade was cool and delicious.
Ancestors | Gertrude AthertonStudying it very carefully, he thought he made out "Mrs." before the moss-blurred name.
The Cromptons | Mary J. HolmesJess quickly found a dry spot thick with moss between two stones.
The Box-Car Children | Gertrude Chandler Warner
British Dictionary definitions for moss (1 of 2)
/ (mɒs) /
any bryophyte of the phylum Bryophyta, typically growing in dense mats on trees, rocks, moist ground, etc: See also peat moss
a clump or growth of any of these plants
any of various similar but unrelated plants, such as club moss, Spanish moss, Ceylon moss, rose moss, and reindeer moss
Scot and Northern English a peat bog or marsh
Origin of moss
1Derived forms of moss
- mosslike, adjective
- mossy, adjective
- mossiness, noun
British Dictionary definitions for Moss (2 of 2)
/ (mɒs) /
Kate . born 1974, British supermodel.
Sir Stirling. born 1929, English racing driver
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
Scientific definitions for moss
[ môs ]
Any of various green, usually small nonvascular plants of the division Bryophyta. Mosses, unlike liverworts, have some tissues specialized for conducting water and nutrients. As in the other bryophytes, the diploid sporophyte grows on the haploid gametophyte generation, which supplies it with nutrients. Mosses often live in moist, shady areas and grow in clusters or mats. Sphagnum mosses play a crucial role in the ecology of peat bogs. See more at bryophyte.
Any of a number of plants that look like mosses but are not related to them. For instance, reindeer moss is a lichen, Irish moss is an alga, and Spanish moss is a bromeliad, a flowering plant.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Other Idioms and Phrases with moss
see rolling stone gathers no moss.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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