waning moon
Americannoun
Usage
What is a waning moon? The moon is called a waning moon when it is in the phase in which its visible surface area is getting smaller. A waning moon occurs between a full moon (when the visible surface is fully round and lit up) and a new moon (when the surface that faces Earth is completely covered in shadow). To wane is to decrease in some way. A moon is any natural satellite that orbits a planet, and the moon is Earth’s only natural satellite. While the moon could be said to be a waning moon at any time between a full moon and a new moon, a waning moon is frequently depicted as a crescent shape.
Etymology
Origin of waning moon
First recorded before 1000; Middle English; Old English
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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.
The waning moon glimmered in the shallows of Rainbow Harbor, seagulls still blinking sleep from their eyes as the anglers huddled at the edge of the pier.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 26, 2022
He arrived at Ada Bible Church in Cascade, Mich., at 5:50 a.m., first in a line of about 70 voters that stretched along the edge of the parking lot under a waning moon.
From Seattle Times • Nov. 3, 2020
The waning moon loiters near Saturn before dawn on March 12.
From Washington Post • Feb. 28, 2015
The stadium was visible in silhouette, like a waning moon.
From New York Times • May 27, 2013
I got up from behind the hedge in the waning moon, wet and shaken in the hot air and started out looking for Jack, still turned around in my direction.
From "Invisible Man" by Ralph Ellison
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.
