Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Moan |
MoanNoun1. An utterance expressing pain or disapproval. Verb1. Indicate pain, discomfort, or displeasure; "The students groaned when the professor got out the exam booklets"; "The ancient door soughed when opened". Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "moan" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1321. (references) |
Synonyms: MoanSynonyms: groan (v), sough (v). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Lamentation | Scream; (cry out); mew; (animal sounds); groan, moan, whine; roar; roar like a bull, bellow like a bull; cry out lustily, rend the air. |
Noun: lament, lamentation; wail, complaint, plaint, murmur, mutter, grumble, groan, moan, whine, whimper, sob, sigh, suspiration, heaving, deep sigh. | |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Moan |
| English words defined with "moan": Moaned, Mone ♦ Swough. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "moan": Crocodile's Tears ♦ Inchcape Rock ♦ story. (references) |
| Etymologies containing "moan": Gemitores. (references) |
| Non-English Usage: "Moan" is also a word in the following language with the English translation in parentheses. Manx (Anglesey ). |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | Last night I let out a moan at the thought of nuclear war. (Cheers; writing credit: Isaac Cronin; Wayne Wang) That moan when you squeeze 'em. (Gilmore Girls; writing credit: Povl Erik Carstensen; Sebastian Dorset) | |
Lyrics | I hear you moan (CRADLE OF LOVE; performing artist: Billy Idol) And if I ever lose my legs, I won't moan, and I won't beg, (Moonshadow; performing artist: Cat Stevens) But sometimes you have to moan when nothing seems to suit yer (On The Road To Find Out; performing artist: Cat Stevens) I'll make him scream and moan (Go Deep; performing artist: Janet Jackson) So why on earth should I moan, 'cause when I get you alone (A Hard Day's Night (Lennon/McCartney); performing artist: The Beatles) | |
Movie/TV Titles | Inc. Moan & Groan (1929) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title |
Books | |
Music |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Play | Caption | Play | Caption |
 | Moan; lion; groan; lioness; lions; moaning. | | Heave; grunt; gripe; grouse; moan; grousing; moaning; griping; heave; elevate; erect; heave; pick up; raise; rear; take up; uphold; uplift; upraise; uprear; hoist; lift. |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Author | Quotation |
Francis Thompson | Nothing begins, and nothing ends, That is not paid with moan; For we are born in others pain And perish in our own. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | |
| Title | Author | Quote |
Scarlet Letter | Hawthorne, Nathaniel | There was no occasion to make much moan about this state of affairs |
Grapes of Wrath | Steinbeck, John | Slowly the woman sank to her knees and the howls sank to a shuddering, bubbling moan. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Lexicography | Devil's Dictionary | STORY, n. A narrative, commonly untrue. The truth of the stories here following has, however, not been successfully impeached. One evening Mr. Rudolph Block, of New York, found himself seated at dinner alongside Mr. Percival Pollard, the distinguished critic. "Mr. Pollard," said he, "my book, The Biography of a Dead Cow, is published anonymously, but you can hardly be ignorant of its authorship. Yet in reviewing it you speak of it as the work of the Idiot of the Century. Do you think that fair criticism?" "I am very sorry, sir," replied the critic, amiably, "but it did not occur to me that you really might not wish the public to know who wrote it." Mr. W.C. Morrow, who used to live in San Jose, California, was addicted to writing ghost stories which made the reader feel as if a stream of lizards, fresh from the ice, were streaking it up his back and hiding in his hair. San Jose was at that time believed to be haunted by the visible spirit of a noted bandit named Vasquez, who had been hanged there. The town was not very well lighted, and it is putting it mildly to say that San Jose was reluctant to be out o' nights. One particularly dark night two gentlemen were abroad in the loneliest spot within the city limits, talking loudly to keep up their courage, when they came upon Mr. J.J. Owen, a well-known journalist. "Why, Owen," said one, "what brings you here on such a night as this? You told me that this is one of Vasquez' favorite haunts! And you are a believer. Aren't you afraid to be out?" "My dear fellow," the journalist replied with a drear autumnal cadence in his speech, like the moan of a leaf-laden wind, "I am afraid to be in. I have one of Will Morrow's stories in my pocket and I don't dare to go where there is light enough to read it." Rear-Admiral Schley and Representative Charles F. Joy were standing near the Peace Monument, in Washington, discussing the question, Is success a failure? Mr. Joy suddenly broke off in the middle of an eloquent sentence, exclaiming: "Hello! I've heard that band before. Santlemann's, I think." "I don't hear any band," said Schley. "Come to think, I don't either," said Joy; "but I see General Miles coming down the avenue, and that pageant always affects me in the same way as a brass band. One has to scrutinize one's impressions pretty closely, or one will mistake their origin." While the Admiral was digesting this hasty meal of philosophy General Miles passed in review, a spectacle of impressive dignity. When the tail of the seeming procession had passed and the two observers had recovered from the transient blindness caused by its effulgence -- "He seems to be enjoying himself," said the Admiral. "There is nothing," assented Joy, thoughtfully, "that he enjoys one-half so well." The illustrious statesman, Champ Clark, once lived about a mile from the village of Jebigue, in Missouri. One day he rode into town on a favorite mule, and, hitching the beast on the sunny side of a street, in front of a saloon, he went inside in his character of teetotaler, to apprise the barkeeper that wine is a mocker. It was a dreadfully hot day. Pretty soon a neighbor came in and seeing Clark, said: "Champ, it is not right to leave that mule out there in the sun. He'll roast, sure! -- he was smoking as I passed him." "O, he's all right," said Clark, lightly; "he's an inveterate smoker." The neighbor took a lemonade, but shook his head and repeated that it was not right. He was a conspirator. There had been a fire the night before: a stable just around the corner had burned and a number of horses had put on their immortality, among them a young colt, which was roasted to a rich nut-brown. Some of the boys had turned Mr. Clark's mule loose and substituted the mortal part of the colt. Presently another man entered the saloon. "For mercy's sake!" he said, taking it with sugar, "do remove that mule, barkeeper: it smells." "Yes," interposed Clark, "that animal has the best nose in Missouri. But if he doesn't mind, you shouldn't." In the course of human events Mr. Clark went out, and there, apparently, lay the incinerated and shrunken remains of his charger. The boys idd not have any fun out of Mr. Clarke, who looked at the body and, with the non-committal expression to which he owes so much of his political preferment, went away. But walking home late that night he saw his mule standing silent and solemn by the wayside in the misty moonlight. Mentioning the name of Helen Blazes with uncommon emphasis, Mr. Clark took the back track as hard as ever he could hook it, and passed the night in town. General H.H. Wotherspoon, president of the Army War College, has a pet rib-nosed baboon, an animal of uncommon intelligence but imperfectly beautiful. Returning to his apartment one evening, the General was surprised and pained to find Adam (for so the creature is named, the general being a Darwinian) sitting up for him and wearing his master's best uniform coat, epaulettes and all. "You confounded remote ancestor!" thundered the great strategist, "what do you mean by being out of bed after naps? -- and with my coat on!" Adam rose and with a reproachful look got down on all fours in the manner of his kind and, scuffling across the room to a table, returned with a visiting-card: General Barry had called and, judging by an empty champagne bottle and several cigar-stumps, had been hospitably entertained while waiting. The general apologized to his faithful progenitor and retired. The next day he met General Barry, who said: "Spoon, old man, when leaving you last evening I forgot to ask you about those excellent cigars. Where did you get them?" General Wotherspoon did not deign to reply, but walked away. "Pardon me, please," said Barry, moving after him; "I was joking of course. Why, I knew it was not you before I had been in the room fifteen minutes." |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| Speaker | Phrase(s) |
Rush Limbaugh | The Democrats bitch, moan, cajole, holler, whine and run around besmirching tax cuts and impugning the people that get them. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| "Moan" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 54.64% of the time. "Moan" is used about 302 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 54.64% | 165 | 24,305 |
| Lexical Verb (infinitive) | 30.46% | 92 | 34,282 |
| Lexical Verb (base form) | 14.9% | 45 | 50,900 |
| Total | 100.00% | 302 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
| The following table summarizes the usage of "moan" based on a population census conducted in the United States. Ranks and frequencies are based on all names reported and classified. |
| Name | Usage/Gender | Usage per 100 million Persons | Rank in USA |
| Moan | Last name | 130 | 55,406 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits. | |||
Expressions using "moan": he does nothing but moan ♦ let out a moan. Additional references. | |
| Hypenated Usage | |
Ending with "moan": mega-moan, mid-moan. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day | Expression | Frequency per Day |
moan | 149 | moan sexy | 3 |
blue long moan | 27 | lesbian moan | 3 |
moan sex | 20 | cat moan pussy | 3 |
moan orgasm | 7 | moan whore | 2 |
let moan slight | 6 | big butt moan | 2 |
moan wav | 5 | dove moan | 2 |
monique de moan | 5 | moan sexual | 2 |
girl moan | 5 | moan sound | 2 |
moan groan | 5 | female moan | 2 |
blue long moan novel | 4 | girl gym moan shower soap | 2 |
her make moan | 3 | rikki moan | 2 |
don hear jerusalem moan t | 3 | ||
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | Translations for "moan"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Albanian | rënkoj (bellow, groan, howl, mewl, sob, wail, whimper, whine), rënkim (groan, howl, jeremiad, wail, whimper, whine, wow), ofshamë (damnation, groan, pain), ofshaj (damn, groan, suspire), ankohem (beef, bind, cavil, complain, grouse, growl, squawk, whine, yammer), ankesë (beef, clamor, clamour, gravamen, grievance, growl, kick, plaint, remonstrance). (various references) | |
Arabic | نوح (bemoan, bewail, lament, wail), تنهيدة, تنهد (heave a sigh, sigh, sighing, sob), عول (keen, pule, ram, responsibility, snivel, sustenance, ululate, wail), أنين (groan, plaint, sighing, sough, whimper, whine), أن (groan, sough, that, whimper, whine). (various references) | |
Basque | intzirikatu (groan to, moan to). (various references) | |
Bulgarian | стон (groan, sigh, wail), стенание (groan, sigh, wail, whine), стена (dike, groan, side, sigh, sough, wall, whine), охкане (groan), охкам (groan), оплакване (complaint, grumble, jeremiad, kick, lament, lamentation, mourning, plaint, sorrow, ululation, wail), оплаквам се (bitch, complain, crab, growl, grumble, lament, quarrel, report, squeal, tick), жалба (complaint, lament, lamentation, litigation, petition, plaint, plea, supplication), пъшкане (groan), пъшкам (gasp, groan). (various references) | |
Chinese | 吟 (to hum), 呻吟声. (various references) | |
Czech | sténání, bìdovat (lament, wail, whine), bìdování (Lam, lamentation, wail, whine). (various references) | |
Dutch | zuchten (ache, groan, long for, sigh, yearn), kermen (groan). (various references) | |
Esperanto | ĝemi (groan). (various references) | |
Faeroese | vena seg (groan, lament, wail), suffa (ache, groan, long for, yearn), stuna (groan). (various references) | |
Farsi | ناله (Croon, Dolor, Groan, Grumble, Wail, Whimper, Whine), زاری کردن , زاری (Plaint, Whimper), شکایت (Complaint, Denunciation, Discontent, Grievance, Gripe, Groan, Murmur, Protest, Rumble). (various references) | |
Finnish | voivotus (lamentation, wail), voivotella (complain, wail), voihkia (groan), valittaa (appeal, be sorry, be sorry about, bewail, complain, condole, deplore, groan, lodge a complaint, protest, regret), vaikerrus (groan), vaikeroida (complain, groan), uikuttaa (wail, whine), huokailla (groan). (various references) | |
French | gémir. (various references) | |
Frisian | kroane (groan). (various references) | |
German | stöhnen (groan, groaning, moaning, to groan, to moan), seufzen (groan, moaning, sigh, sighing, to sigh), jammern (bellyache, groan, lament, lamentation, squeal, to lament, wail, wailing, whine, yammer). (various references) | |
Greek | στενάζω. (various references) | |
Hebrew | לקו ן (bemoan, dirge, lament, mourn, wail), ל"א ק (groan), ל"א ח (groan, heave a sigh, lament, mourn, sigh), ל' וח (cough, groan), א ק" (groan), א ח" (sigh, sighing), "מי" (rattle, rumbling, sound, tumult), ' יח" (cough, coughing, groan, wheeze). (various references) | |
Hungarian | sóhaj (sigh), nyögés (groan), zsémbelés (grumbling, nagging), nyöszörgés (groan, whimper), nyögdécselés, morgolódás (bitching, griping), dörmögés (grousing, growl, grumble, grumbling, mumbling, muttering). (various references) | |
Indonesian | mengerang (groan), mengaduh (groan, lament, wail, whine), menangisi (bemoan, bewail), rintihan (groan). (various references) | |
Italian | gemere (bleat, groan, sough, wail, whine). (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | うめき声 (groan, moaning), "号 (wailing), 呻き声 (groan, moaning). (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | うめき"え (groan, moaning), あい"う (wailing). (various references) | |
Korean | 음 소리. (various references) | |
Manx | soutaghey (flutter, leap, moaning, sob), sou, soghal (groan, groaning, moaning, sigh, sob, sobbing, sough, surge, whimper), sogh (groan, sigh, sob, surge, swell, whimper), osnaghey (sigh, sough), gra dy soghallagh, eie (concept, idea, notion, pang, shout), cauaigey (coo, cooing, murmer, murmuring), cauaig (buzz, buzz of crowd, coo, murmer), accan (complain, complaint, grumble, lamentation, lawsuit). (various references) | |
Occitan | gemegar (groan). (various references) | |
Pig Latin | oanmay.(various references) | |
Portuguese | carpir (groan, keen, mourn). (various references) | |
Romanian | geme (groan, sigh, suffer). (various references) | |
Russian | стонать стон (groan), стонать (groan), стон (groan), охать (sigh), жалоба (beef, claim, complaint, complaints, gravamen, grievance, lament, peeve, plaint, plea). (various references) | |
Scottish | cnead (a sigh, groan, sigh), acain (complaint, sigh, sob). (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | zastenjati, uzdisanje (sigh), tugovati (grieve, mourn), stenjati (groan), oplakivati (bemoan, bewail, mourn, mourn over), jecati (blubber, sob), jecanje (sob, sobbing), jaukati (howl), jauk (howl, scream), jadikovati (wail, waul). (various references) | |
Spanish | gemir (bleat, groan, wail, whimper), gemido (bleat, groan, wail, whimper). (various references) | |
Sranan | geme (groan). (various references) | |
Swedish | stöna (groan). (various references) | |
Thai | เสียงคราง (groan), บ่น (grumble), คราง (groan). (various references) | |
Turkish | inlemek (grizzle, groan, howl, sough, wail, whimper, yammer), inilti (groan, groaning, moaning, wailing). (various references) | |
Turkmen | nalamak (complain, fill, forge, groan, stuff), nala (complaint), izzildemek (make a fuss, whine), iсlemek, hyklamak (groan). (various references) | |
Ukrainian | стогін (groan, howl), стогнати (groan, howl, wail), скарга (appeal, beef, belly ache, bill, complaint, gravamen, grievance, information, libel, peeve, quarrel), оплакувати (bemoan, bewail, condole, cry over, deplore, mourn, sigh, weep). (various references) | |
Vietnamese | tiếng than van (wail, whine), tiếng rền rĩ (wail), tiếng kêu van. (various references) | |
Welsh | ubain (howl, sob, wail), griddfan (groan). (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Greek | 700 BCE-300 CE | stenein. (various references) |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | congemuisti, gemas, gememus, gemens, gementes, gementium, gemere, gemescit, gemet, gemimus, gemis, gemitos, gemitu, gemitum, gemitus, gemunt, moere. (various references) |
| German | 100 BCE-Modern | wimmern. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "moan": moaned, moaner, moaners, moanful, moaning, moans. (additional references) | |
Words ending with "moan": bemoan. (additional references) | |
Words containing "moan": bemoaned, bemoaning, bemoans. (additional references) | |
| |
"Moan" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: Emona, eoan, hoan, koan, maan, Ma'an, maban, macan, manao, mann, manv, maop, maown, mban, meaan, mian, moac, moad, moaf, Moah, moai, moane, Moanna, moany, moap, moar, moas, moaw, moax, moay, Moehne, moen, mofa, mohan, mohand, Mohn, Moiane, moin, Moion, Moiun, Moja, Monal, monam, monaw, monax, Monn, Mooa, Mooun, Mopani, mosan, Moun, mouni, movan, moxa, Moyani, moyano, Moyn, muan, muane, mufan, muna, myan, noan, noman, nuan, oan, Omand, omanju, omann, omean, omman, voan, yoan, zoan. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "moan" (pronounced mō"n) |
| 3 | m ō" n | bemoan, Mon. |
| 2 | -ō" n | alone, atone, blown, bone, bourguignon, clone, Cologne, condone, cone, crone, cyclone, dethrone, disown, drone, flown, groan, grown, hipbone, homegrown, hone, intone, known, Leone, loan, lone, outgrown, outshone, overblown, overgrown, overthrown, own, phone, postpone, prone, roan, Scone, sewn, shone, shown, sown, stone, throne, thrown, tone, trombone, trone, unbeknown, unknown, zone. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
Direct Anagrams: mano, noma. | |
| Words within the letters "a-m-n-o" | |
-1 letter: man, moa, mon, nam, nom. | |
-2 letters: am, an, ma, mo, na, no, om, on. | |
| Words containing the letters "a-m-n-o" | |
+1 letter: amino, amnio, among, anomy, macon, mango, manor, manos, mason, moans, monad, monas, nomad, nomas, roman, toman, woman. | |
+2 letters: almond, amazon, ammino, ammono, amnion, amnios, amount, anomic, anomie, anonym, bemoan, bowman, camion, cowman, daemon, daimon, damson, dolman, domain, dynamo, enamor, fandom, fantom, foeman, gammon, hansom, macons, macron, mammon, mangos, manioc, manito, manors, maroon, marron, mascon, masons, matron, moaned, moaner, monads, morgan, nomads, nomina, nonman, normal, oilman, omenta, outman, potman, ramson, random, ransom, rodman, romano, romans, salmon, socman, tampon, tomans, womans, yeoman. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Sounds 7. Quotations: Familiar 8. Quotations: Fiction | 9. Quotations: Non-fiction 10. Quotations: Spoken 11. Usage Frequency 12. Names: Frequency | 13. Expressions 14. Expressions: Internet 15. Translations: Modern 16. Translations: Ancient | 17. Derivations 18. Rhymes 19. Anagrams 20. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
