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to moon

to moon

8 7.4
To spend time thinking and not pay attention
  • verb
  • /muːn/
translation icon : soñar despierto
  • After finishing my work, I spent the afternoon mooning by the lake, lost in my thoughts.
  • mooning around
  • waste time mooning
  • instead of mooning

Examples

  • No time to waste mooning out the window.

    Fiction book (1990)
  • Well, it's, uh, better than mooning around the deck all night.

  • Given what I pay you and how long you moon, you could easily end up owing me money.

    Fiction book (1999)
  • I mean, I was never one of those little girls who played bride or spent hours mooning over my wedding.

  • Finally, my Aunt Dee got tired of me mooning around, as she called it.

    Fiction book (1991)
  • "For every minute you stand out there mooning over her, I'm going to dock you a dollar.

    Fiction book (1999)
  • Look, why don't you stop mooning and moping around?

  • Same goes for my assistant, Idrissa, the guy I've been mooning over for all these months.

    Fiction book (1997)
  • I don't understand how, even after Keith did what he did to you, and even in the midst of the shame of being here, you can possibly still be mooning over him.

  • Abe Hollenbeck, George's employer, declared it time for him to quit mooning.

    Fiction book (1997)

Synonyms

to daydream
vsto moon
39 2.3

To imagine pleasant things while you are awake and not paying attention

are more general lost thoughts not necessarily pleasant
to moon around
vsto moon
  • Informal
1 8.1

To spend time daydreaming and doing nothing useful

describe neutral wandering thought without showing apathy
to moon about
vsto moon
  • UK
1 8.1

To walk or sit around slowly while feeling sad and lost in thought

refer to neutral lost thought not caused by sadness
to moon on
vsto moon
  • UK
9.5

To sit or stand and stare while lost in thought

spend time lost in thought without implying inactivity

Idioms

over the moon
  • Informal
13 4.9

Feeling very happy and excited because something good happened

6 5.0

Happens very rarely

4 8.2

To make a long loud cry like a wolf to show strong feeling

1 7.6

To demand something that is impossible or too much

to hung the moon
  • Informal
1 9.6

To think someone is perfect and cannot do wrong

1 6.8

Tell someone you will do something very big although you cannot do it

1 6.3

Feel very strong love for someone

To want something that is impossible or not realistic

Admire someone so much that you think they are perfect

An impossible thing that someone asks for

Phrasal Verbs

to moon around
  • Informal
1 8.1

To spend time daydreaming and doing nothing useful

1 8.1

To walk or sit around slowly while feeling sad and lost in thought

9.5

To sit or stand and stare while lost in thought

Compounds

116 1.2

A time when the Moon's whole face looks bright from Earth

9 2.8

A thin crescent of the Moon that first appears after a dark period

blue moon
  • Informal
7 6.1

An event that happens very rarely

6 4.7

A full moon that comes soon after the start of autumn and gives extra light for farmers

man in the moon
  • Literature
3 6.7

A shape people imagine on the moon's surface that looks like a face

A stage in the Moon's cycle that shows how much of it is lit

2 5.4

The moon looks red during a total eclipse when it passes into Earth's shadow because Earth's air filters sunlight

The half of the Moon that we never see from Earth

1 2.6

A time when half of the Moon appears lit by the Sun

1 9.1

A tree grown from seeds taken to the Moon on a space mission

blue moon event
  • Informal
6.6

A very rare event that almost never happens

full moon maple
  • Specialized
8.1

A small tree grown for its pretty, deeply cut leaves that turn bright red in autumn

A time when the Moon looks completely lit in the night sky

The time when the Moon looks fully round and very bright

3.9

A pale beam of light from the moon that shines at night

moon shell
  • Specialized
8.2

A smooth rounded sea snail shell with a small top often found on sandy beaches

moon shot
  • Specialized
5.1

A rocket launch that sends a spacecraft to the moon

7.9

A very ambitious project that is unlikely to succeed

9.9

A small evergreen bush with soft hairy leaves, yellow summer flowers, and snail-shaped seed pods

moon blindness
  • Specialized
9.8

Repeated inflammation in a horse's eye that can cause blindness

moon blindness
  • Archaic
9.8

Poor sight at night in people and animals often caused by lack of vitamin A

9.9

A plant with tall stems, thin leaves, and clusters of small white or pink flowers

9.9

A person who secretly brings goods into or out of a country to avoid paying taxes

6.2

A tall plant with white daisy-like flowers that grows in fields

9.9

A person who brings goods into or out of a country secretly to avoid paying taxes

8.6

A thin beam of light from the moon

moon-splashed
  • Literature
7.5

A place or object that has small areas lit by moonlight

An act of praying to the moon as if it were a god

9.9

A curved part of a fort wall shaped like a half moon for defenders to fire on attackers

4.2

A pale curved area at the base of a fingernail

A time when the Moon looks like a thin crescent at the start of a new moon cycle

How Dreamy

to daydream
39 2.3
to moon
8 7.4
to space out
  • Informal
4 7.7
to unfix
8.2

Surface Forms

moon infinitive
mooned past
mooned past participle
mooning present participle
moons third person singular

Etymology

The verb moon, meaning to daydream, comes from old ideas that the moon makes people 'moonstruck' or dreamy, so to moon is to stare and be lost in thought.