What does MOSS mean?

Definitions for MOSS
mɔs, mɒsmoss

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word MOSS.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. mossnoun

    tiny leafy-stemmed flowerless plants

Wiktionary

  1. mossnoun

    A bog; a swamp.

  2. mossnoun

    Any of various small green plants growing on the ground or on the surfaces of trees, stones etc.; now specifically, a plant of the division Bryophyta (formerly Musci).

  3. mossnoun

    A type or species of such plant.

  4. mossverb

    To become covered with moss.

    An oak whose boughs were mossed with age.

  5. mossverb

    To cover (something) with moss.

  6. Etymology: From mos, from mos, from musan, from mūs-. Cognate with Old High German mos, Icelandic mosi, Danish mos, Swedish mossa, Latin muscus.

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. MOSSnoun

    A plant.

    Etymology: muscus, Lat. meos , Saxon.

    Though moss was formerly supposed to be only an excrescence produced from the earth and trees, yet it is no less a perfect plant than those of greater magnitude, having roots, flowers, and seeds, yet cannot be propagated from seeds by any art: the botanists distinguish it into many species: it chiefly flourishes in cold countries, and in the winter season, and is many times very injurious to fruit trees: the only remedy in such cases, is to cut down part of the trees, and plough up the ground between those left remaining; and in the Spring, in moist weather, you should with an iron instrument scrape off the moss. Philip Miller.

    Moss is a kind of mould of the earth and trees; but it may be better sorted as a rudiment of germination. Francis Bacon.

    Houses then were caves, or homely sheds,
    With twining oziers fenc’d, and moss their beds. Dryden.

    Such mosses as grow upon walls, roofs of houses, and other high places, have seeds that, when shaken out of their vessels, appear like vapour or smoke. John Ray, on Creation.

    The cleft tree
    Offers its kind concealment to a few,
    Their food its insects, and its moss their nests. James Thomson.

  2. To Mossverb

    To cover with moss.

    Etymology: from the noun.

    An oak whose boughs were moss’d with age,
    And high top bald with dry antiquity. William Shakespeare.

    Will these moss’d trees,
    That have out-liv’d the eagle page thy heels,
    And skip when thou point’st out. William Shakespeare.

ChatGPT

  1. moss

    Moss is a small, non-vascular plant that typically forms dense green clumps or mats, often in damp or shady locations. It's in the division Bryophyta, and displays a range of growth habits including creeping, branching, and erect. Mosses do not have seeds nor flowers, instead they reproduce through spores. Unlike most plants, they do not have a root system and instead have tiny hair-like structures called rhizoids that absorb water and nutrients.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Mossnoun

    a cryptogamous plant of a cellular structure, with distinct stem and simple leaves. The fruit is a small capsule usually opening by an apical lid, and so discharging the spores. There are many species, collectively termed Musci, growing on the earth, on rocks, and trunks of trees, etc., and a few in running water

  2. Mossnoun

    a bog; a morass; a place containing peat; as, the mosses of the Scottish border

  3. Mossverb

    to cover or overgrow with moss

  4. Etymology: [OE. mos; akin to AS. mes, D. mos, G. moos, OHG. mos, mios, Icel. mosi, Dan. mos, Sw. mossa, Russ. mokh', L. muscus. Cf. Muscoid.]

Wikidata

  1. Moss

    Mosses are a botanical division of small, soft plants that are typically 1–10 cm tall, though some species are much larger, like Dawsonia, the tallest moss in the world which can grow to 50 cm in height. They commonly grow close together in clumps or mats in damp or shady locations. They do not have flowers or seeds, and their simple leaves cover the thin wiry stems. At certain times mosses produce spore capsules which may appear as beak-like capsules borne aloft on thin stalks. There are approximately 12,000 species of moss classified in the Bryophyta. The division Bryophyta formerly included not only mosses, but also liverworts and hornworts. These other two groups of bryophytes are now placed in their own divisions.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary

  1. Moss

    mos, n. a family of flowerless plants with branching stems and narrow, simple leaves: popularly any small cryptogamic plant, esp. a lichen: a piece of ground covered with moss: a bog.—v.t. to cover with moss.—ns. Moss′-back, an old fish: a person of antiquated views; Moss′-cheep′er (Scot.), the titlark.—adj. Moss′-grown, covered with moss.—ns. Moss′-hag (Scot.), a pit or slough in a bog; Moss′iness; Moss′-land, land abounding in peat-bogs; Moss′-rose, a variety of rose having a moss-like growth on and below the calyx; Moss′troop′er, one of the robbers that used to infest the mosses of the Border.—adj. Moss′y, overgrown or abounding with moss.—Iceland moss (see Iceland). [A.S. meós; Dut. mos, Ger. moos.]

Suggested Resources

  1. moss

    Song lyrics by moss -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by moss on the Lyrics.com website.

  2. MOSS

    What does MOSS stand for? -- Explore the various meanings for the MOSS acronym on the Abbreviations.com website.

Surnames Frequency by Census Records

  1. MOSS

    According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Moss is ranked #423 in terms of the most common surnames in America.

    The Moss surname appeared 76,908 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 26 would have the surname Moss.

    69.7% or 53,628 total occurrences were White.
    24.7% or 19,004 total occurrences were Black.
    2.2% or 1,754 total occurrences were of Hispanic origin.
    2.1% or 1,630 total occurrences were of two or more races.
    0.6% or 523 total occurrences were American Indian or Alaskan Native.
    0.4% or 369 total occurrences were Asian.

Matched Categories

How to pronounce MOSS?

How to say MOSS in sign language?

Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of MOSS in Chaldean Numerology is: 8

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of MOSS in Pythagorean Numerology is: 3

Examples of MOSS in a Sentence

  1. Linda Salsbery:

    Burns High School's total hysteria. Heather Moss get on the Internet and there's so much misinformation, those guys aren't here to kill anybody. They just decided to take a stand somewhere. They're 60 miles from town.

  2. Elisabeth Moss:

    It's physically far more challenging than I thought it was, mentally far more challenging. I don't know why I didn't realize that, i'm like,' Wow. Ballsy move, Elisabeth Moss. You really took on something bigger than you've done before. But that's what I want to do.

  3. Leah Remini:

    I don't hold anything against Elisabeth Moss other than Elisabeth Moss's continuing to support a group that is abusive and destroying families. ... That's for Elisabeth Moss to learn — just as I needed to learn it.

  4. Publilius Syrus:

    A rolling stone gathers no moss.

  5. Christian Lamar:

    Mr. Moss loves his daughter, after discussing the strength of the case against him, and also just what was the best thing that he wanted to do, this is where we came out.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

MOSS#1#9451#10000

Translations for MOSS

From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary

Get even more translations for MOSS »

Translation

Find a translation for the MOSS definition in other languages:

Select another language:

  • - Select -
  • 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
  • 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
  • Español (Spanish)
  • Esperanto (Esperanto)
  • 日本語 (Japanese)
  • Português (Portuguese)
  • Deutsch (German)
  • العربية (Arabic)
  • Français (French)
  • Русский (Russian)
  • ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
  • 한국어 (Korean)
  • עברית (Hebrew)
  • Gaeilge (Irish)
  • Українська (Ukrainian)
  • اردو (Urdu)
  • Magyar (Hungarian)
  • मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
  • Indonesia (Indonesian)
  • Italiano (Italian)
  • தமிழ் (Tamil)
  • Türkçe (Turkish)
  • తెలుగు (Telugu)
  • ภาษาไทย (Thai)
  • Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
  • Čeština (Czech)
  • Polski (Polish)
  • Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
  • Românește (Romanian)
  • Nederlands (Dutch)
  • Ελληνικά (Greek)
  • Latinum (Latin)
  • Svenska (Swedish)
  • Dansk (Danish)
  • Suomi (Finnish)
  • فارسی (Persian)
  • ייִדיש (Yiddish)
  • հայերեն (Armenian)
  • Norsk (Norwegian)
  • English (English)

Word of the Day

Would you like us to send you a FREE new word definition delivered to your inbox daily?

Please enter your email address:


Citation

Use the citation below to add this definition to your bibliography:

Style:MLAChicagoAPA

"MOSS." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 18 Mar. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/MOSS>.

Discuss these MOSS definitions with the community:

0 Comments

    Are we missing a good definition for MOSS? Don't keep it to yourself...

    Image or illustration of

    MOSS

    Credit »

    Free, no signup required:

    Add to Chrome

    Get instant definitions for any word that hits you anywhere on the web!

    Free, no signup required:

    Add to Firefox

    Get instant definitions for any word that hits you anywhere on the web!

    Browse Definitions.net

    Quiz

    Are you a words master?

    »
    (of especially persons) lacking sense or understanding or judgment
    A ultimo
    B ravening
    C foreordained
    D soft-witted

    Nearby & related entries:

    Alternative searches for MOSS: