Thesaurus results for MOATS

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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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

Noun

Though Sarnia’s industrial corridor is downstream from Lake Huron, several drainage ditches in the area are connected to creeks that flow into the lake, Corcoran said in an interview.

— Michael Hawthorne, Chicago Tribune, 23 Aug. 2026
This untreated runoff makes its way through storm drains and ditches into our local streams and rivers and eventually, the ocean.

— Jaclyn Cosgrove, Los Angeles Times, 6 Aug. 2026

Definition of ditches

Noun

Tasks included scooping and dumping sand or gravel, digging and grading trenches, clearing debris from roads, removing tree branches from water edges, and breaking up rocks.

— New Atlas, New Atlas, 21 Aug. 2026
That made General Manager Adam Peters comfortable going the entire offseason without making a significant addition to the offensive trenches.

— Tashan Reed, Washington Post, 20 Aug. 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

Rising from near the Aegean coast to 9,573-foot Mytikas, Greece’s highest peak, the mountain encompasses forests, ravines, limestone cliffs, and alpine habitat with unusually rich plant diversity.

— Bailey Berg, Forbes.com, 9 Aug. 2026
Hundreds, thousands of solar panels are distributed like macropixels among ravines, pampas, slopes, and wherever there’s room for them.

— Cristina Dorador, The Dial, 14 July 2026

Definition of ravines

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“Moats.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/moats. Accessed 26 Aug. 2026.

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Synonyms of moats

noun

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