1
: lamentation, complaint
… made a great moan if he had to work …—
D. H. Lawrence
D. H. Lawrence2
: a low prolonged sound of pain or of grief
a moan of distress
moaned; moaning; moans
1
: to bewail audibly : lament
moaning the loss
2
: to utter with moans
"My stomach hurts," she moaned.
2
a
: to make a moan : groan
injured patients moaning
b
: to emit a sound resembling a moan
The wind moaned in the trees.
Examples of moan in a Sentence
Noun
She let out a long, deep moan.
the moan of the wind
the moan of the car's engine
Verb
The wounded soldier moaned in pain.
He moaned with pleasure as she rubbed his back.
We were all moaning about the cold, rainy weather.
He's always moaning about his salary.
The children were moaning and groaning all morning, but their mother would not let them go outside.
I'm tired of all his moaning and groaning about his salary.
“But I don't want to go,” moaned the boy.
The wind moaned in the trees.
Recent Examples on the Web
Taran Dugal, New Yorker, 23 May 2026
Where my world was hemmed in by ridgelines and holler roads, Mary Lennox’s world was hemmed in by fog and wind and the low moan of a manor house that seemed to breathe on its own.
—Literary Hub, 23 Mar. 2026
Literary Hub, 2 June 2026
The process left Carruthers bleeding and moaning on May 21, according to the witness, Maria DeLiberato, senior counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union's Capital Punishment Project.
—Amanda Lee Myers, USA Today, 28 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for moan
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Noun
The child’s eyes were swollen and milky, their mouth agape in a silent moan.
—Taran Dugal, New Yorker, 23 May 2026
Where my world was hemmed in by ridgelines and holler roads, Mary Lennox’s world was hemmed in by fog and wind and the low moan of a manor house that seemed to breathe on its own.
—Literary Hub, 23 Mar. 2026
Verb
And yes, that sound will dissipate and soon will be too faint for my human ears as it is absorbed into space, but Renee Gladman writes that spaces moan.
—Literary Hub, 2 June 2026
The process left Carruthers bleeding and moaning on May 21, according to the witness, Maria DeLiberato, senior counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union's Capital Punishment Project.
—Amanda Lee Myers, USA Today, 28 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for moan
Cite this Entry
“Moan.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/moan. Accessed 5 Jun. 2026.
Copy CitationKids Definition
moan
1 of 2 noun1
: a long low sound indicating pain or grief
2
: a sound like a moan
moan
2 of 2 verbLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
