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Synonyms

moat

American  
[moht] / moʊt /

noun

  1. a deep, wide trench, usually filled with water, surrounding the rampart of a fortified place, such as a town or a castle.

  2. any trench, such as one used for confining animals in a zoo.

  3. a competitive advantage a business has in its field.

    The company's moat was reduced when the patent on the devices they sold expired.
moat British  
/ məʊt /

noun

  1. a wide water-filled ditch surrounding a fortified place, such as a castle

"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

verb

  1. (tr) to surround with or as if with a moat

    a moated grange
"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

Etymology

Origin of moat

First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English mote, from Old French: “clod, mound,” of obscure origin

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.

"It's got no moat but it has got a little railway I can drive around," he said.

From BBC • Mar. 28, 2026

The company’s thesis is that AI agents will buy Microsoft seats en masse, and that its Fabric data analytics platform gives it an additional moat.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 24, 2026

The moat, as Morgan Stanley describes it, is partly due to the architecture’s complexity.

From Barron's • Mar. 20, 2026

If the moat was friction, not technology, the following sectors are exposed.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 19, 2026

No moat, unfortunately, but of course the gate shut and the portcullis down.

From "The Horse and His Boy" by C.S. Lewis

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.