MOAN

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does moan mean? 

• MOAN (noun)
  The noun MOAN has 1 sense:

1. an utterance expressing pain or disapproval

  Familiarity information: MOAN used as a noun is very rare.

• MOAN (verb)
  The verb MOAN has 1 sense:

1. indicate pain, discomfort, or displeasure

  Familiarity information: MOAN used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• MOAN (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An utterance expressing pain or disapproval

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

groan; moan

Hypernyms ("moan" is a kind of...):

utterance; vocalization (the use of uttered sounds for auditory communication)

Derivation:

moan (indicate pain, discomfort, or displeasure)

• MOAN (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they moan    ... he / she / it moans   
Past simple: moaned   
Past participle: moaned   
-ing form: moaning   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Indicate pain, discomfort, or displeasure

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

groan; moan

Context example:

The ancient door soughed when opened

Hypernyms (to "moan" is one way to...):

emit; let loose; let out; utter (express audibly; utter sounds (not necessarily words))

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

Sentence examples:

You can hear animals moan in the meadows
The meadows moan with animals

Derivation:

moan (an utterance expressing pain or disapproval)

moaner (a person given to excessive complaints and crying and whining)

 Context examples 

What now, after pausing a moment—your poor sister is gone to her own room, I suppose, to moan by herself.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

She stood with her bright angry eyes confronting the wide stare, and the set face; and softened no more, when the moaning was repeated, than if the face had been a picture.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

At first she did not respond; but gradually she became more and more uneasy in her sleep, moaning and sighing occasionally.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

The woman ran away and found her husband, who was lying moaning in the corner, and had broken his leg.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

“They was his last words,” moaned Morgan, “his last words above board.”

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

She burst into tears, and began to moan, "My poor boy, my poor boy!"

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

He had ceased to moan as we laid him down, and a glance showed me that for him at least our aid had come too late.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I lay still a while: the night-wind swept over the hill and over me, and died moaning in the distance; the rain fell fast, wetting me afresh to the skin.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Now, Laurie flattered himself that he had borne it remarkably well, making no moan, asking no sympathy, and taking his trouble away to live it down alone.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Hollow murmurs seemed to creep along the gallery, and more than once her blood was chilled by the sound of distant moans.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)