as in ditches
a deep, wide excavation that is usually filled with water and that goes around the walls of a place (such as a castle) to protect it from being attacked
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Recent Examples of moats
Put another way, the castles of these companies' profit engines are protected by moats.
—
NPR, 21 Oct. 2025
These applications can create competitive moats and generate measurable ROI.
—Craig Costigan, Forbes.com, 19 Sep. 2025
Technical moats that are eroding in software, where AI democratizes development, remain strong in robotics due to the complexity of physical world integration.
—Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 8 Sep. 2025
NPR, 21 Oct. 2025
These applications can create competitive moats and generate measurable ROI.
—Craig Costigan, Forbes.com, 19 Sep. 2025
Technical moats that are eroding in software, where AI democratizes development, remain strong in robotics due to the complexity of physical world integration.
—Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 8 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for moats
Noun
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Richmond Township voters shot down a ballot question about a new millage, not to exceed 1 mill, for five years to fund the maintenance of ditches, drains and roads.—
Christina Hall,
Freep.com,
5 Nov. 2025
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Nelson was a teenager who would sometimes work for Gacy, and remembered the contractor asking him to help dig some ditches, about six feet deep and four feet long.—
Elisabeth Garber-Paul,
Rolling Stone,
24 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Chinese reports stated that the attack-type wolf robots cleared barbed wire and trenches in three to five minutes, while the transport variants followed closely behind.—
Kapil Kajal,
Interesting Engineering,
5 Nov. 2025
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That has included decreasing the practice of flood irrigation, in which water flows through trenches between rows of plants.—
Huma Tariq Malik,
The Conversation,
4 Nov. 2025
Noun
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While the new dikes are funded by the federal government, the extensive reforestation efforts are privately covered by a non-governmental organization.—
Christopher Elliott,
Forbes.com,
11 Aug. 2025
Noun
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The agency said rising water levels in rivers, gullies and swamps may push the reptiles into residential areas in search of dry ground.—
Gabe Whisnant,
MSNBC Newsweek,
28 Oct. 2025
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Instead, a new study suggests that the gullies are sculpted by slabs of dry ice that form during the Martian winter.—
Samantha Mathewson,
Space.com,
16 Oct. 2025
Noun
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One of the original Florida state parks, opened to the public in 1935, the 13,000-acre expanse felt more like Georgia or North Carolina with its high plateaus, steep ravines, waterfalls, and seasonal foliage.—
Carrie Honaker,
Travel + Leisure,
9 Nov. 2025
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And at Wallow Hallow Woods, tucked across the ravines and slopes unscathed by fire, beech and maple trees still grow.—
Sophie Hartley,
IndyStar,
29 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Moats.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/moats. Accessed 15 Nov. 2025.
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