moats

noun

plural of moat
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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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of moats Twenty-two wide moats were downgraded, twenty to narrow and two to none, concentrated in enterprise software, IT services and payroll, hitting names like Workday, Adobe, Salesforce and ADP. — Jemma Green, Forbes.com, 21 Aug. 2026 Ant moats are the most effective way of keeping ants out of the feeder if the ants don’t have an alternate route. — Joan Morris, Mercury News, 17 Aug. 2026 Supported by massive regulatory moats, long-term secular demand from GLP-1s and biologics and a clean balance sheet, West is exceptionally well-positioned to compound earnings and deliver strong returns over the long term. — Harvey Stober, CNBC, 5 Aug. 2026 The multi-billion-dollar market capitalizations of the top five on the list are driven by highly defensible business models, massive capital moats (as analysts describe them), and structural advantages within the freight sector. — Arthur Zaczkiewicz, Footwear News, 8 July 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for moats
  1. ditches
  2. trenches
  3. dikes
  4. gullies
  5. ravines
Noun
  • Travelers are advised to avoid roadside ditches, shoulders and unmarked trails and never touch anything that could be unexploded munitions.
    — Kelly McGreal, FOXNews.com, 4 Sep. 2026
  • In the spring, when the snow is melting and the springs that are high up in the rock cliffs some miles away are carrying it down full speed, the ditches overflow as does the little creek that runs near my cabin.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 24 Aug. 2026
Definition of ditches
Noun
  • As police in Kathmandu buried dozens of bodies in multiple trenches, Nepal’s disaster agency said that 1,003 deaths had been counted there, with 3,916 people missing, including 583 foreign nationals.
    — Shristi Kafle, Los Angeles Times, 1 Sep. 2026
  • In Kathmandu, police worked in heavy rain on Tuesday to bury dozens of bodies in multiple trenches next to a forested area.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 1 Sep. 2026
Definition of trenches
Noun
  • Like many inland dikes, the barrier in agricultural fields near the small town of Waddinxveen, east of The Hague, is made of peat that needs to be damp to be strong enough to hold back water.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 2 Aug. 2026
  • As the dikes spread, the region faced earthquakes and brought back into action long dormant faults, draining the magma beneath the ridge.
    — Ameya Paleja, Interesting Engineering, 9 July 2026
Definition of dikes
Noun
  • The dark form of the bear was rounding the ridges and gullies, appearing and disappearing among the brush in the direction of the head of the canyon.
    — Frank C. Hibben, Outdoor Life, 15 July 2026
  • Scott Gordon, chief of water enforcement for EPA’s regional office at the time, toured the site in 2000 and said he was shocked by how the industrial water found its path into the river, sometimes through gullies cut by the flow.
    — DYLAN JACKSON, ABC News, 6 May 2026
Definition of gullies
Noun
  • Many more were imperiled by muddy water racing through the narrow ravines, sparking frantic rescue missions for dozens.
    — Holly Yan, CNN Money, 1 Sep. 2026
  • Lake Overstreet has about five miles of multi-use trails through live oaks (a northern Florida staple), hills and ravines surrounding a secluded 144-acre lake.
    — Austin Perry OutKick, FOXNews.com, 24 Aug. 2026
Definition of ravines

Browse Nearby Words

moat
moats
mob
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Cite this Entry

“Moats.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/moats. Accessed 10 Sep. 2026.

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