- a place for mooring a vessel
- a permanent anchor, dropped in the water and equipped with a floating buoy, to which vessels can moor
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
moor•ing /ˈmʊrɪŋ/USA pronunciation
n. [countable]
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- NauticalUsually, moorings. [plural] the means by which a ship, boat, or aircraft is moored:Ships were torn from their moorings.
- Nautical moorings, [plural] a place where a ship, boat, or aircraft may be moored:The safest moorings were on the mainland.
- Usually, moorings. a source of stability or security:Would he lose his moorings if he began to doubt his religion?
moor•ing
(mŏŏr′ing),USA pronunciation n.
- the act of a person or thing that moors.
- NauticalUsually, moorings. the means by which a ship, boat, or aircraft is moored.
- Nauticalmoorings, 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.
- 1375–1425; late Middle English; compare Middle Dutch moor; see moor2, -ing1
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
mooring /ˈmʊərɪŋ; ˈmɔː-/ n
moor1 /mʊr/USA pronunciation
n. [countable]
moor2 /mʊr/USA pronunciation v.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- Geographyan area of open wasteland, often overgrown with grass and heath.
moor2 /mʊr/USA pronunciation v.
- to hold and attach (a ship, etc.) in a particular place, as by ropes or anchors: [~ + object]The crew moored the ship to the dock.[no object]We moored next to the dock.
- [~ + object] to attach firmly;
secure.
moor1
(mŏŏr),USA pronunciation n.
moor′y, adj.
moor2 (mŏŏr),USA pronunciation v.t.
v.i.
n.
Moor (mŏŏr),USA pronunciation n.
- Geographya tract of open, peaty, wasteland, often overgrown with heath, common in high latitudes and altitudes where drainage is poor;
heath. - a tract of land preserved for game.
- bef. 900; Middle English more, Old English mōr; cognate with Dutch moer, German Moor marsh
moor2 (mŏŏr),USA pronunciation v.t.
- to secure (a ship, boat, dirigible, etc.) in a particular place, as by cables and anchors or by lines.
- to fix firmly;
secure.
v.i.
- to moor a ship, small boat, etc.
- to be made secure by cables or the like.
n.
- the act of mooring.
- 1485–95; earlier more, akin to Old English mǣrels- in mǣrelsrāp rope for mooring a ship; see marline
Moor (mŏŏr),USA pronunciation n.
- a Muslim of the mixed Berber and Arab people inhabiting NW Africa.
- a member of this group that invaded Spain in the 8th century a.d. and occupied it until 1492.
- Greek Maûros
- Latin Maurus
- Middle French, variant of Maure
- Middle English More 1350–1400
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
moor /mʊə; mɔː/ n
- a tract of unenclosed ground, usually having peaty soil covered with heather, coarse grass, bracken, and moss
moor /mʊə; mɔː/ vb
- to secure (a ship, boat, etc) with cables or ropes
- (of a ship, boat, etc) to be secured in this way
- (not in technical usage) a less common word for anchor
'mooring' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
adrift
- berth
- bitt
- boathook
- bollard
- bow
- cast-off
- deck hand
- dock
- dolphin
- drag
- grapnel
- moor
- moorage
- moorings
- push off
- sheer
- slip
- snub
- tail
- boat hook
- boom
- breast line
- buoy
- buoyage
- cable bend
- cast
- deadman
- fast
- flying moor
- foul
- ground cable
- ground tackle
- hawser
- killick
- knighthead
- lap
- lay-by
- loose
- lunchhook
- monobuoy
- mooring buoy
- mooring mast
- mooring rack
- mooring screw
- mud berth
- tie-up
- screw anchor
- screw mooring
- single buoy mooring