mossn.1
/mɒs/, U.S. /mɔs/, /mɑs/ I. A bog or swamp, and related senses.
1.
a. A bog, swamp; a fen, morass; esp. a peatbog. Now chiefly Scottish, English regional (northern), and Irish English.Frequently occurring in place names. Cf. peat moss n. 1.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > landscape > marsh, bog, or swamp > [noun]
marsheOE
fenc888
sladec893
moorOE
mossOE
marshlandlOE
lay-fena1225
lay-mirea1225
moor-fenc1275
flosha1300
strother?a1300
marish1327
carrc1330
waterlanda1382
gaseync1400
quaba1425
paludec1425
mersec1440
sumpa1450
palus?1473
wash1483
morass1489
oozea1500
bog?a1513
danka1522
fell1538
soga1552
Camarine1576
gog1583
swale1584
sink1594
haga1600
mere1609
flata1616
swamp1624
pocosin1634
frogland1651
slash1652
poldera1669
savannah1671
pond-land1686
red bog1686
swang1691
slack1719
flowa1740
wetland1743
purgatory1760
curragh1780
squall1784
marais1793
vlei1793
muskeg1806
bog-pit1820
prairie1820
fenhood1834
pakihi1851
terai1852
sponge1856
takyr1864
boglet1869
sinkhole1885
grimpen1902
sphagnum bog1911
blanket bog1939
string bog1959
OE Bounds (Sawyer 801) in W. de G. Birch Cartularium Saxonicum (1893) III. 646 Of þære dic in þæt micle mos of þæm mose in þæt sic.
1424 Indenture in J. Brownbill Coucher Bk. Furness Abbey (1919) 773 Diverses debates..have bene stirret..touching a parcell of mosse, more and pasture..callet Angreton Mosse.
c1440 (?a1400) Morte Arthure 2014 The mosse and þe marrasse.
1485 Rolls of Parl. VI. 382/1 Oure Mosse of Penwortham, otherwise called there the Kings Mosse..unto the said Thomas graunted to ferme.
1486 Bk. St. Albans sig. eiiiiv In moore or in moos he hidyth hem fast.
1487 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (St. John's Cambr.) viii. 167 Apon athir syde Wes a gret moss, mekill & braid.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Jer. xiv. 6 The wilde Asses shall stonde in the Mosse [Luther auf den Hügeln, L. in rupibus, Gk. ἐπὶ νάπας].
1573 in J. Cranstoun Satirical Poems Reformation (1891) I. xxxix. 347 He raid throw montanes many, mose, and myre.
1618 in J. Robertson Illustr. Topogr. & Antiq. Aberdeen & Banff (1847) II. 371 Ascending up the Black Moiss.
1674 S. Fell Househ. Acct. Bk. 4 June (1920) 79 By mo pd Jno Towers for graveing 2: dayworke of peats in Conniside Mosse..000 01 08.
1706 J. Evelyn Silva (ed. 4) i. xviii. 99 In many of the Mosses of the West-Riding of Yorkshire are often dug up Birch-trees, that burn and flame like Firr.
1790 R. Burns Tam o' Shanter 7 in Poems & Songs (1968) II. 557 We think na on the lang Scots miles, The mosses, waters, slaps, and styles.
1815 R. Bakewell Introd. Geol. (ed. 2) xi. 259 The great moss of Cree in Galloway lies close upon the sea, on a bed of clay.
1880 S. Haughton Six Lect. Physical Geogr. v. 221 The White Nile takes its origin in a gigantic boggy plain or moss.
1953 Scots Mag. Nov. 134 The high ‘mosses’ of the Cairngorms are certainly a unique topographical feature of the British Isles.
1980 D. K. Cameron Willie Gavin ii. 19 On the edge of the moor, the side of the moss, the steep brae-face of the hillside.
b. Wet spongy soil; bog. Now rare, except as merging with sense 3a: damp moss-covered soil.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > earth or soil > kind of earth or soil > [noun] > waterlogged soil
moss1596
boga1687
liver1803
pakihi1851
gley1927
pseudogley1953
1596 J. Dalrymple tr. J. Leslie Hist. Scotl. (1888) I. 9 Scharpe and hard hillis full of mosse, more and marrase.
1769 Defoe's Tour Great Brit. (ed. 7) III. 332 A Tract of Ground full of Holes, filled with a boggy Substance, which in this Country is called Moss.
1773 Gentleman's Mag. 43 265 The Solway-flow contains 1300 acres of very deep and tender moss.
1887 R. L. Stevenson Merry Men i. 5 The road..went over rough boulders, so that a man had to leap from one to another, and through soft bottoms where the moss came nearly to the knee.
1977 J. McPhee Coming into Country iii. 379 Before building the fire, he turfed out the moss, cutting eight inches down and removing a five-foot square.
2. Scottish and English regional (north-eastern). Either of the two common kinds of cotton grass, Eriophorum vaginatum and E. angustifolium, which grow in bogs; = moss-crop n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > a grass or grasses > reedy or aquatic grasses > [noun] > cotton-grass plant or flower
moss-crop?c1475
fen-down1495
cotton-grass1597
silk grass1727
moor-palm1788
bog-down1794
moss1798
cotton-rush1826
lucky minnie's oo1866
cotton-sedge1872
moor-silk1879
month1881
month grass1881
1798 R. Douglas Gen. View Agric. Roxburgh & Selkirk 108 Early in spring, sheep, in marshy districts, feed much upon the Eriophorum vaginatum, called by the farmers and their shepherds moss.
1894 R. O. Heslop Northumberland Words Moss, the first shoots and the flower stalks of the cotton grass, Eriophorum vaginatum.
1929 Herding Hill Hirsel 15 If it comes a hard, black frost in the spring..the ‘moss will not pull’.
II. A kind of plant.
3. A plant of the class Musci (or Bryopsida), comprising small bryophytes with scalelike leaves usually spirally arranged, and with a sporophyte generally opening by a lid, which grow in masses in bogs, on the surface of the ground, on stones, trees, etc. Also popularly extended to any of various algae, lichens, ferns, or flowering plants resembling mosses in appearance and habit.
a. Such plants collectively: a mass of moss plants.Frequently referred to (esp. historically) as a material for filling the chinks between roofing slabs or slates, for stopping crevices in mill-dams, or for bedding or fodder for cattle. Also used to denote a similar material of moss-covered turf employed as packing, lining, etc.: cf. sense 1b.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > moss > [noun]
meseeOE
mosslOE
fog1494
moss-fog1805
lOE Durham Plant Gloss. 16 Muscus, mose.
a1200 Glossae in Apollinarem Sidonium in Anecdota Oxoniensia (1885) Classical Ser. I. v. 61 Muscus, anglice, musse uel mosse.
1324–5 in J. T. Fowler Extracts Acct. Rolls Abbey of Durham (1898) I. 15 Mulieribus colligentibus mosse pro eodem [stagno].
1355–6 in J. T. Fowler Extracts Acct. Rolls Abbey of Durham (1899) II. 557 Cum colleccione Bruere et Mos pro eodem [molendino].
c1390 Roberd of Cisyle (Vernon) (1930) 329 Nabugodonosor lyuede in desert..With rootes, gras, and evel fare, And al of mos his cloþing was.
c1400 (c1378) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Laud 581) (1869) B. xv. 282 (MED) Poule primus heremita had parroked hym-selue, Þat no man miȝte hym se for mosse and for leues.
?a1425 (c1400) Mandeville's Trav. (Titus C.xvi) (1919) 202 The walles ben couered all ouer with mosse.
1447 O. Bokenham Lives of Saints (Arun.) (1938) 1760 (MED) A sparow fedynge hyr bryddes she seye, In a nest made of mossh & cleye.
1485 W. Caxton tr. Lyf St. Wenefryde 5 The mosse that groweth vpon the sayde stones smellyth lyke encense.
?1523 J. Fitzherbert Bk. Husbandry f. xliiv Croppe them [sc. the trees] in wynter, that thy beestes may eate..the mosse of the bowes.
1573–4 Rewley Accts. (Feuillerat) 193 Torchebearers vj attyred in Mosse & Ivye.
1594 W. Shakespeare Titus Andronicus ii. iii. 95 The trees..Ouercome with mosse and balefull misselto. View more context for this quotation
1626 F. Bacon Sylua Syluarum §340 Mosse is a Kinde of Mould, of the Earth, and Trees. But it may be better sorted as a Rudiment of Germination.
1657 W. Coles Adam in Eden xv. 31 The last [sort] which is the Mosse of a dead Mans Skull is oftner brought out of Ireland, then found with Us.
1712 R. Steele Spectator No. 514. ¶2 I saw three figures seated on a bank of moss.
1728 E. Chambers Cycl. at Mosse There is also a kind of greenish Moss growing on human Sculls that have been long exposed to the Air, call'd Usnea, or Muscus calvarius. The Antients made a deal of Use of it as an Astringent, &c.
1762 A. Dickson Treat. Agric. iv. vi. 423 Moss is commonly ranked in the class of vegetables.
1785 W. Cowper Task i. 270 Hence, ancle-deep in moss and flow'ry thyme, We mount again.
1809 Med. & Physical Jrnl. 21 398 I packed it carefully in fresh moss.
c1830 Mrs. Sherwood in Houlston Tracts III. lxi. 8 Is it not a deal, a great deal to me, to see the one whom I love best in all the world wearing away like moss under a dripping rock, from trouble and from weariness.
1864 W. W. Skeat tr. J. L. Uhland Songs & Ballads 312 On couch of moss sat Merlin.
1925 Woman's World (Chicago) Apr. 64/1 (advt.) The plants are carefully packed in damp moss, wrapped in wax paper and packed in a box in which condition they are delivered to you.
1938 R. K. Narayan Dark Room vii. 120 There was still one step..very slippery with moss.
1969 A. McCaffrey Ship who Sang 19 I notice your buildings are made of wood with moss chinking.
1988 Garden (Royal Hort. Soc.) Feb. 85/1 I therefore encourage lawns and paths of moss.
1994 Amateur Gardening 30 July 21/4 Traditionally, moss is the preferred lining for hanging baskets.
b. As a count noun: a species or kind of moss.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > moss > [noun] > a kind of
moss?a1425
moss1562
muscal1846
1562 W. Turner 2nd Pt. Herball f. 36 Lichen..cleueth vnto watery stones, or such as at the leste are somtyme sprynkled wyth water as a mosse.
1691 J. Ray Wisdom of God 83 Such Mosses as grow upon Walls, the Roofs of Houses [etc.].
1785 T. Martyn tr. J.-J. Rousseau Lett. Elements Bot. xxxii. 492 The Mosses, have leaves like the more perfect vegetables, distinct from the stalk.
1815 W. Scott Lord of Isles iii. xiv. 99 On high Benmore green mosses grow.
1849 C. Lyell 2nd Visit U.S. (1850) II. xxxii. 215 I saw, on the damp ground beneath the trees, abundance of mosses, with scarcely a blade of grass.
1866 J. Lindley & T. Moore Treasury Bot. II. at Mosses Small species of Sedum..are sometimes termed Mosses—of course merely on account of their habit.
1882 S. H. Vines tr. J. von Sachs Text-bk. Bot. (ed. 2) 903 Such as the Ferns, Equisetaceæ, the Mosses, and others.
1934 C. C. Steele Introd. Plant Biochem. iii. 27 Erythritol..is found in many algæ, mosses, and lichens.
1970 D. Wilkinson Arctic Coast iii. vii. 70/1 Cladonia..is sometimes mistaken for a moss but is actually a lichen, the main winter food for the great herds of caribou.
1992 Up Here (Yellowknife, N.W. Territories) Oct. 44/1 River terraces are blanketed with a lush growth of mosses.
4. Chiefly with distinguishing word: any of various mosses or plants resembling mosses (esp. lichens).beard-, black, bog, Florida, Iceland, reindeer, Spanish moss, etc.: see the first element. See also peat moss n. 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > moss > [noun] > a kind of
moss?a1425
moss1562
muscal1846
?a1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac Grande Chirurgie (N.Y. Acad. Med.) f. 179v (MED) Vsnea quercina, þat is, white mosse [L. mossa alba], is ca. & sic. with temperament & confortatif.
1597 J. Gerard Herball iii. 1374 This is called in English Goldilockes Polytrichon... It might also be termed Golden Mosse, or Hairie Mosse.
1610 W. Folkingham Feudigraphia i. ii. 38 The Chalice or Chin-cough Mosse creeps along the barren..ditch banckes.
1796 W. Marshall Rural Econ. W. Eng. I. 222 During the winter months, a West Devonshire Orchard,..appears as if hung with hoar frost; owing to the white moss which hangs in ribbons from its boughs.
1857 A. Gray First Lessons Bot. (1866) 34 We have two or three flowering air-plants in the Southern States,..one of them is..the Long-Moss, or Black Moss, so called.
1936 Stage June 51 The idea was born after experimenting with some Florida moss and a stove-pipe hat, the addition of which makes our hero look like..Abraham Lincoln.
1960 H. S. Zim Guide to Everglades 60 Spanish moss is a member of the pineapple family.
1992 New Scientist 5 Oct. 14/3 According to the report, reindeer moss, the staple diet of herds of reindeer on the peninsula, has completely disappeared.
5. Seaweed; algae. rare exc. North American regional and as the second element in compounds (esp. Irish moss: see Irish adj. and n. Compounds 2).Ceylon moss: see Ceylon n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > algae > seaweed > [noun]
sea-frothc1440
wrekec1440
ooze?c1475
wreck1499
wrack1513
moss1543
reek1545
wrake1547
sea-wrack1551
seaweed1577
varec1676
wreck-weed1821
Algal alliance1846
wreck-ware1865
1543 B. Traheron Interpr. Straunge Wordes in tr. J. de Vigo Most Excellent Wks. Chirurg. sig. ζζ.iiiiv/2 Coraliine. Coralina is thoughte to be bryon whyche is mosse growynge to stones in the sea.
1601 R. Chester Loves Martyr 82 Mosse of the Sea, and yellow Succorie.
1830 Ld. Tennyson Mermaid in Poems 29 In the hueless mosses under the sea.
1895 M. L. Pool Boss in Chapbk. III. 478 Granny often wheeled her to the breakwater where she could see the moss gathered.
1913 Torreya 13 225 Submerged aquatic plants in general are known among hunters and others as grass, moss or weeds.
1954 E. T. Bodenberg Mosses 2 In the spring floating masses of slippery green plants appear in streams and pools of quiet water. Most people refer to these as ‘moss’.
1984 F. W. P. Bolger Memories Old Home Place 1 While the moss on the shore is being gathered up by rakes and forks, horses with scoops harnessed behind them..salvage the moss floating out of reach.
III. Extended and figurative uses.
6. Proverb. a rolling stone gathers no moss and variants: a person who does not settle in one place will not accumulate wealth, status, friends, etc., or (alternatively, and now frequently) responsibilities and commitments. Hence, with allusion to the proverb, moss is occasionally used to denote money.For earlier references to the proverb see moss v. 1.
ΚΠ
a1542 T. Wyatt Coll. Poems (1969) cvii. 4 On the stone that still doeth tourne abowte There groweth no mosse: these proverbes yet do last.
1546 J. Heywood Dialogue Prouerbes Eng. Tongue i. xi. sig. Dii The rollyng stone neuer gatherth mosse.
1548 J. Bradford Let. 12 May in J. Foxe Actes & Monuments (1583) II. 1662/2 A tumblyng stone gathereth no mosse.
1581 R. Mulcaster Positions xxxvii. 156 [They] reape as much learning, as the rowling stone doth gather mosse.
1627 R. Sanderson Ten Serm. 463 Some men are euer restlesse,..euery new crotchet putteth them into a new course. But these rowling stones carry their curse with them; they seldome gather mosse.
1641 Naunton's Fragmenta Regalia sig. E2v He [sc. Rawleigh] foresaw his destiny, that he was first to Roule..before he came to a repose and as the stone doth by long lying, gather Mosse.
1678 J. Gailhard Compl. Gentleman 34 To learn the Language, Fashions, and Exercises; which cannot be done if one be constantly a Travelling, and ever upon a motion but time of rest must be allowed to do't; for the Proverb saith, the rolling stone gathers no moss.
1776 G. Colman Spleen i. 9 Here's such a rumpus about my mistress going out of town indeed!.. Well, well; a rolling stone's always bare of moss, as you say.
1822 W. Irving Bracebridge Hall 70 He was an exemplification of the old proverb, ‘a rolling stone gathers no moss’. He had sought his fortune about the world without ever finding it.
1886 ‘S. Tytler’ Buried Diamonds xxii The sudden turning up of Jack as a roving brother, who, like a rolling stone, gathered no moss.
1914 G. B. Shaw Parents & Children in Misalliance p. lxxxiv We keep repeating the silly proverb that a rolling stone gathers no moss, as if moss were a desirable parasite.
1955 Ld. Kilbracken Living like Lord Pref. 11 I'll never gather moss, but very few stones do.
1998 A. Jackson Sojourner in Poems Sel. & New 140 A rolling stone gathers no moss, ties, no memory.
7. figurative. Something characteristic of or resulting from age, decay, or neglect; a covering or accretion acquired over time.
ΚΠ
1559 W. Baldwin et al. Myrroure for Magistrates Suffolk xx Affirming me to have brought the realme to mosse.
1679 C. Ness Distinct Disc. Antichrist Ep. Ded. sig. A2 Nobility..is but the Moss of time.
1680 H. More Apocalypsis Apocalypseos 353 The rest being no part of that..Christianity, but at best mere moss and filth added to it.
1825 B. Barton Poems 194 Dark storms passing over, perhaps may have sear'd thee, The moss of old age be thy livery now.
1948 N. Powell Identities in Sel. Poems 17 He needs a bar, an image and a pose To which the moss of solitude will cling.
8. † b. cant. Lead. Obsolete. rare.† c. A type of confectionery made to resemble moss. Obsolete.
a. An excrescence or covering layer resembling moss; esp. the covering of the calyx and pedicel of the moss rose (moss rose n. 1).
ΚΠ
1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 278 It [sc. the hedgehog] is..beset..with sharpe thorney haires,..and those sharpe prickles are couered with a kind of soft mosse.
1837 T. Rivers Rose Amateur's Guide 6 The Double Moss Rose..covered with that glandular excrescence which we term moss.
1864 J. R. Lowell Fireside Trav. 10 Coals, over which a gray, soft moss of ashes grew.
1987 Reader's Digest Encycl. Garden Plants & Flowers (1988) 609/2 Moss Roses... ‘Nuits de Young’. Height 5 ft; spread 3 ft. A slender wiry bush with dark moss.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > metal > base metal > [noun] > lead > types of > for roofing
leads1578
moss1703
thack-lead1827
1703 Hell upon Earth 5 Moss, lead.
1796 Grose's Classical Dict. Vulgar Tongue (ed. 3) Moss, a cant term for lead, because both are found on the tops of buildings.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > dishes and prepared food > confections or sweetmeats > [noun] > sugar confections
sugar roset1363
sugar-work1572
sugar snow1611
moss1706
sugar puffa1711
silver web1769
sultana1862
chip1876
1706 Phillips's New World of Words (new ed.) Moss,..Also a kind of fine Sugar-Work, made by Confectioners, in Imitation of Moss.
1727 R. Bradley Chomel's Dictionaire Oeconomique (Dublin ed.) at Confectioner Pastils and Mosses which are sugar works that may be made in the season.
1841 Guide to Trade, Baker 64 Moss.—Rub a little rout cake paste through a fine sieve, and it will look like moss. Gently squeeze a little together, about the size of half-a-crown, and bake them.
d. slang and humorous. Hair; (also) pubic hair. Cf. also righteous moss n. at righteous adj., n., adv., and int. Compounds.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > hair > [noun]
hairc1000
wire1576
strummel1725
crowning glory1780
suit1803
floss1846
moss1847
the world > life > the body > hair > pubic hair > [noun]
pubes1569
garden1732
fud1771
pubic hair1836
moss1847
rug1893
maidenhair1908
pussy hairc1910
bush1922
man-hair1928
thatch1933
chuff1967
pube1967
1847 J. K. Paulding Antipathies II. iii As to moss, if you mean hair, to be sure you have not much left, and that's pretty white.
1926 C. M. Russell Trials 65 He wears long moss on his chin which he's proud of.
1961 C. Himes Pinktoes 142 If colored people had straight moss and white people had kinky moss, it would make everybody equal.
1972 B. Hannah Geronimo Rex 35 You saw her totally nude and even her moss for about 5 seconds before the strobe light went out.
e. Short for moss green adj. and n. at Compounds 2a.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > colour > named colours > green or greenness > [noun] > shade or tint of green > dark green
steel-greena1560
moss green1705
bottle1784
corbeau1810
forest-green1810
rifle green1829
spinach-green1845
hunter's green1872
moss1897
army green1908
jungle green1946
loden1964
1897 Sears, Roebuck Catal. No. 104. 333/1 Crepe Tissue Paper..in the following colors..Apple, Moss, Grass, Nile and Sea Green.
1923 Daily Mail 26 May 1 (advt.) Superb colours, including: Rose Pink,..Moss, Tomato.
1971 Vogue Dec. 148/2 Jersey..colours..rosewood, oak, moss.
1991 Philadelphia Inquirer 3 May A6/6 (advt.) Crisp linen/cotton and ramie/cotton blends in red, gold, wisteria, khaki, white, moss, more.
Compounds
C1. General attributive.
a. (In sense 1.)
(a) † moss-field n. Obsolete† moss ground n. Obsolete
moss-cart n.
ΚΠ
1814 R. W. Dickson & W. Stevenson Gen. View Agric. Lancs. v. 181 Moss-Cart.—In some of the moss tracts of this district which are now bringing into cultivation, a particular sort of cart is made use of, in applying marl and other consolidating substances to their surfaces.
1834 Brit. Husbandry (Libr. Useful Knowl.) I. 165 A peculiar sort of cart..called a moss-cart, which appears to be admirably adapted to the application of marl..to the surface of peaty soils.
ΚΠ
1366–72 in J. H. Lumby Cal. Norris Deeds Lancs. (1939) 37 Le Mossefeld.
1527 in J. P. Earwaker Lancs. & Cheshire Wills (1884) I. 25 I will that the seid John have..the mosse fylds..in the severall holldings of the seid John Dutton [and others].
ΚΠ
1584 T. Cogan Hauen of Health ccxxiv. 228 In Lankashire in their mosse grounds where they digge their turues, there is great store of it.
1683 in Coll. for Hist. Aberdeen & Banff (1843) 103 In the very best of moss grounds, which are ever on the tops of hills, whose peits when dry are exceeding hard.
moss-land n.
ΚΠ
1662 Let. 2 Dec. in H. Oldenburg Corr. (1970) VII. 295 Our black-land (or Mosse-land) will give good oates barley and beanes especially the last.
1780 Farmer's Mag. July 224 The writer advises such sets to be planted as grew in moss-land.
1815 R. W. Dickson & W. Stevenson Gen. View Agric. Lancs. 183 Horse-Pattens..are used for the hind feet of horses in first breaking up and cultivating the more soft moss lands in this country.
1996 Guardian 19 Mar. i. 16/7 A Silver Hook [sc. a moth] was taken on mossland in the north of the county.
moss pit n. [earliest attested in a place name] now chiefly historical
ΚΠ
1501 in J. M. Dodgson Place-names Cheshire (1970) I. 206 Lez mospittes.
c1510 Reg. Burrough (P.R.O.) lf. v. b Hey hille lyes betwix the scharthe Hylle and Mosse pyttes.
1773 Dumfries Weekly Mag. 19 Oct. 191 And on Wednesday last, a labouring man..unluckily fell into a moss pit and perished.
1845 New Monthly Mag. 74 ii. 419 They attempted to proceed, and went floundering into moss-pit after moss-pit.
?1982 G. Atkinson Canal Duke's Collieries 41/1 Cast iron tubbing to line shafts had been introduced at Lords Moss pit in 1868.
moss-sod n.
ΚΠ
1844 H. Stephens Bk. of Farm III. 1038 I cover with moss-sods (from the turf-banks) laid perfectly close, the shear of each fitted to the other.
(b) † moss-traversing adj. Obsolete
moss-bound adj.
ΚΠ
1840 J. Buel Farmer's Compan. (ed. 2) 206 If the land is poor, or moss-bound.
ΚΠ
1786 R. Burns Poems 59 An' aft your moss-traversing Spunkies Decoy the wight that late an' drunk is.
b. (In sense 3.)
moss-bed n.
ΚΠ
1830 Ld. Tennyson Merman 39 Soft are the moss-beds under the sea.
moss-floor n.
ΚΠ
1990 Scope Summer 5/2 The spongy moss floor gives refuge to pitcher plants hungry for a tasty insect morsel.
moss-garden n.
ΚΠ
2000 Elle Sept. 379/1 Downstairs there's more orientalism in the form of a glass-sided chashitsu (tearoom) and Japanese moss garden.
moss plant n.
ΚΠ
1935 E. N. da C. Andrade & J. Huxley More Simple Sci. vii. 254 Eventually a new fern-plant of the same sort is formed again, not a moss-plant or even a fern of a different kind.
1946 A. Nelson Princ. Agric. Bot. xxvii. 536 The moss plant is the gametophyte, the sporophyte is a small, stalked capsule parasitic on the gametophyte.
moss-root n.
ΚΠ
1883 G. Meredith Poems & Lyrics 131 Rich with life as moss-roots breathe of earth In the first plucking of them.
c. Instrumental (in sense 1: chiefly poetic).† moss-thrummed adj. Obsolete rare
moss-bearded adj.
ΚΠ
1835 W. G. Simms Partisan II. v. 37 Those grave guardians of a century, the spreading and moss-bearded oaks.
1851 H. Melville Moby-Dick lxxxviii. 439 Venerable moss-bearded Daniel Boone.
1991 National Geographic Traveler Sept. 105/1 Twisted tree limbs, moss–bearded rocks.
moss-begrown adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > moss > [adjective] > covered in or overgrown with moss
moss-grownc1390
moss-begrown?a1425
mossy1561
fogged1743
mossed1744
sphagnose1818
sphagnous1845
?a1425 Mandeville's Trav. (Egerton) (1889) 150 (MED) Þe wall..es all mosse begrowen and couerd so with mosse..þat men may see na stane.
1668 H. More Divine Dialogues (1713) v. xxxiii. 507 Philoth...It was not still to have ly'n unpolished or Moss-begrown.
1905 F. Sandeman in J. Wilson Victoria Hist. Cumberland II. 468/2 Sunken moss-begrown rocks.
moss-bordered adj.
ΚΠ
1820 J. A. Heraud Tottenham i. 15 Holy this moss-border'd fount to me.
1940 C. Day Lewis tr. Virgil Georgics iv. 77 But mind there's a bubbling spring nearby, a pool moss-bordered.
moss-cankered adj.
ΚΠ
1795 R. Southey Vision Maid of Orleans i. 82 Imaged forms Of saints and warlike chiefs, moss–canker'd now..lay strewn upon the ground.
1904 R. Kipling Traffics & Discov. 304 The moss-cankered oak and beech.
moss-clad adj.
ΚΠ
1747 G. Lyttelton To Memory of Lady vii. 5 Or under Campden's Moss-clad Mountains Hoar.
a1862 H. D. Thoreau Maine Woods (1864) ii. 105 Once, when..we were listening for moose, we heard,..creeping from far, through the moss-clad aisles, a dull, dry, rushing sound.
moss-covered adj.
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the world > time > relative time > the past > oldness or ancientness > [adjective] > old-fashioned or antiquated
moth-frettenOE
antiquate?a1425
antique?1532
rusty1549
moth-eaten1551
musty1575
worm-eatenc1575
overyear1584
out of date1589
old-fashioned1592
out of date1592
worm-eat1597
old-fashion1599
ancient1601
outdated1616
out-of-fashion1623
over-aged1623
superannuateda1634
thorough-old1639
overdateda1641
trunk-hosea1643
antiquitated1645
antiquated1654
out-of-fashioned1671
unmodern1731
of the old school1749
auld-farrant1750
old-fangled1764
fossila1770
fogram1772
passé1775
unmodernized1775
oxidated1791
moss-covered1792
square-toeda1797
old-fashionable1807
pigtail1817
behind the times1826
slow1827
fossilized1828
rococo1836
antiquish1838
old-timey1850
out of season1850
moss-grown1851
old style1858
antiqued1859
pigtaily1859
prehistoric1859
backdated1862
played1864
fossiled1866
bygone1869
mossy-backed1870
old-worldly1878
past-time1889
outmoded1896
dated1900
brontosaurian1909
antiquey1926
horse-and-buggy1926
vintage1928
Neolithic1934
time-warped1938
demoded1941
steam age1941
hairy1946
old school1946
rinky-dink1946
time warp1954
Palaeolithic1957
retardataire1958
throwback1968
wally1969
antwacky1975
1792 M. Wollstonecraft Vindic. Rights Woman v. 253 Moss-covered opinions..indolently adopted only because age has given them a venerable aspect.
1849 J. G. Bruff Jrnl. 8 Aug. in Gold Rush (1944) I. i. 80 Threw ourselves down on a sloping moss-covered bank.
1992 A. Kurzweil Case of Curiosities xxvii. 174 He climbed up again and slipped on a moss-covered pantile.
moss-crowned adj.
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1742 W. Collins Persian Eclogues ii. 11 Here, where no Springs, in Murmurs break away, Or Moss-crown'd Fountains mitigate the Day.
1990 Field & Stream Mar. 125/2 I stashed an iron skillet under a moss-crowned granite ledge.
moss-dappled adj.
ΚΠ
1945 J. Betjeman New Bats in Old Belfries 6 The view from my bedroom of moss-dappled path.
moss-hung adj.
ΚΠ
1845 C. F. Hoffman Vigil of Faith 33 Oft in that barren hollow where Through moss-hung hemlocks blasted there.
1867 M. Arnold Heine's Grave 160 Huge moss-hung boulders, and thin musical waters.
1993 D. Wakoski Jason the Sailor 73 The only ones who Will walk With them..through vine covered hills or The moss hung live oaks.
moss-inwoven adj.
ΚΠ
1813 J. H. Wiffen Poems by Three Friends 167 In thy moss-inwoven nest, Thy languid frame from toil shall rest.
1818 P. B. Shelley Marenghi xiv And hillocks heaped of moss-inwoven turf.
1835 R. Mant February in Brit. Months 53 The Thrush Her twig and moss-inwoven nest Shall fashion.
moss-lain adj.
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1820 J. Keats Ode to Psyche in Lamia & Other Poems 120 There by zephyrs, streams, and birds, and bees, The moss-lain Dryads shall be lull'd to sleep.
moss-lined adj.
ΚΠ
1727 J. Thomson Summer 43 An ample Chair, moss-lin'd, and over Head With weaving Umbrage hung.
1825 W. Wordsworth Contrast 30 This moss–lined shed, green, soft, and dry, Harbours a self–contented wren.
1900 J. Muir in Atlantic Monthly 86 172/2 Many of the moss-lined chambers, so cool, so moist.
moss-mantled adj.
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1801 L. Hunt Juvenilia 115 Roving far by Thame's moss-mantled side, Crown thy gay temples with the moisten'd sedge.
1923 R. Graves Feather Bed 11 By falls of scree, moss-mantled slippery rock.
moss-shadowed adj.
ΚΠ
1931 C. Day Lewis From Feathers to Iron 19 The virgin spring moss-shadowed near the shore.
ΚΠ
1616 W. Browne Britannia's Pastorals II. i. 2 Each Mosse-thrumb'd Mountaine bends, each Current playes!
moss woven adj.
ΚΠ
1767 W. Dodd Poems 201 A moss-woven rose-bud, Eliza, from thee, A well-pleasing gift to a monarch would be.
1779 W. Mason Eng. Garden iii. 205 Their moss-woven nest.
2002 www.butterflyjournal.com 9 Apr. (O.E.D. Archive) Things do change Things pass on The old moss-woven stump was once a tall tree.
C2.
a. † moss-coral n. Obsolete rare = moss animal n.† moss-fog n. Obsolete = sense 3a, 1b (cf. fog n.1 2).† moss hair n. Obsolete hair resembling moss (cf. mossy adj. 5).† moss-polyp n. Obsolete = moss animal n.† moss saxifrage n. Obsolete the mossy saxifrage Saxifraga hypnoides.† moss-tenant n. Obsolete the tenant of a moorland farm.† moss-wood n. Obsolete the wood of trees found buried in peatbogs.† moss-work n. Obsolete (a) ornamental work or decoration resembling moss; (also) moss arranged so as to form a covering; (b) work which involves digging moss.
moss agate n. a variety of agate in which inclusions, typically of manganese oxide, produce black, brown, or esp. greenish dendritic forms resembling moss.
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society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > gem or precious stone > rock crystal > [noun] > chalcedony > agate > varieties of
sea-agatea1593
phassachate1634
sardachate1706
jaspagate1748
peacock stone1753
moss agate1798
fortification-agate1882
the world > the earth > minerals > types of mineral > silicates > tectosilicate > [noun] > quartz > cryptocrystalline quartz > chalcedony > agate > varieties
sea-agatea1593
phassachate1634
sardachate1706
jaspagate1748
peacock stone1753
moss agate1798
ruin agate1798
1798 G. Mitchell tr. D. L. G. Karsten Descr. Minerals in Leskean Mus. I. 98 Milk white Moss Agate [Ger. Moosagat], traversed by brownish particles; from Ceylon.
1845 J. C. Atkinson in Hist. Berwickshire Naturalists' Club 2 No. 13. 132 Chert, hornstone, and moss agate, may be found.
1962 R. Webster Gems I. x. 178 In England and America the term mocha stone is used synonymously with moss agate, but in European countries the green moss agate alone is known as moss agate while the black and red coloured dendritic agate is termed mocha stone.
2000 Light Feb. 32/1 (caption) Pyramid lamps..are made with semi–precious stones including..moss agate and carnelian.
moss animal n. a bryozoan (esp. an ectoproct).
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the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Metazoa > grade Triploblastica or Coelomata > phylum Polyzoa > [noun] > member of
coralline1721
coralloid1750
fenestella1849
bryozoan1851
moss-coral1853
polyzoan1856
moss animal1858
moss-polyp1876
fenestellid1882
moss animalcule1890
tentaculibranchiatec1904
1858 A. M. Redfield Zoöl. Sci. p. xii Bryozoa, Gr[eek] Moss-animals, i.e., largely aggregated like corallagineous Zoophytes.
1863 J. D. Dana Man. Geol. iii. 157 Bryozoans, or moss-animals (so named from the moss-like corals they often form), look like polyps.
1991 N. Eldredge Fossils i. 15 (caption) Archimedes wortheni, corkscrew-shaped support system for a fenestellid bryozoan, or lacy moss animal.
moss animalcule n. (a) = moss animal n.; (b) rare a tardigrade.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Metazoa > grade Triploblastica or Coelomata > phylum Polyzoa > [noun] > member of
coralline1721
coralloid1750
fenestella1849
bryozoan1851
moss-coral1853
polyzoan1856
moss animal1858
moss-polyp1876
fenestellid1882
moss animalcule1890
tentaculibranchiatec1904
1890 Cent. Dict. Moss-animalcule.
1940 Ecol. Monogr. 10 572 Tardigrada or ‘water bears’ are also often called ‘moss animalcules’ because of their frequent occurrence in moss.
1986 A. S. Romer & T. S. Parsons Vertebr. Body (ed. 6) ii. 29 A few of the less familiar, mainly sessile marine forms, such as the lamp shells (brachiopods) and moss animalcules (ectoprocts), do not fit well on either main branch.
moss-bag n. Canadian a moss-packed carrier used by Canadian Indians for protecting and transporting an infant (see quot. 1865).
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society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > furniture and fittings > bed > types of bed > [noun] > cot or cradle > used by North American Indians
moss-bag1865
cradle-board1879
1865 Visct. Milton & W. B. Cheadle N.-W. Passage by Land vi. 85 The ‘moss-bag’ or Indian cradle. This is a board with two side flaps of cloth, which lace together up the centre. The child is laid on its back on the board, packed with soft moss, and laced firmly down, with its arms to its side, and only its head at liberty.
1993 Beaver Apr. 7 (caption) Two big canoes loaded with men & one woman, who had a baby in a moss bag.
moss-basket n. a moss-covered decorative basket.
ΚΠ
1858 P. L. Simmonds Dict. Trade Products 252/2 Moss-basket, a fancy basket for a room, conservatory, &c., covered with moss.
moss bass n. the largemouth bass, Micropterus salmoides (cf. mossback n. 2a).
ΚΠ
1876 D. S. Jordan Man. Vertebr. Northern U.S. 230 Moss Bass. Dark green; young brighter and more or less barred and spotted, but without lateral band.
1978 Outdoor Life Sept. 56 Scientists call the large-mouth bass Micropterus salmoides... But there are many lesser-known names too. Some of them are..moss bass, and lake bass.
moss bee n. now rare = moss carder n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Hymenoptera > [noun] > suborder Apocrita, Petiolata, or Heterophaga > group Aculeata (stinging) > superfamily Apoidea (bees) > member of family Bombidae (bumble-bee) > bombus muscorum
carding bee1781
carder1830
moss bee1832
moss carder1853
clothier-bee1864
1832 A. Cunningham Maid of Elvar v. xxxiii. 84 While grouse..Rough-footed run o'er knowes where moss-bees build their cells.
1936 Jrnl. Animal Ecol. 5 406 [The author] records finding one [sc. a hibernating frog] in nest of ‘moss bee’ [sic].
moss boat n. rare a boat used for transporting peat.
ΚΠ
1878 Forest & Stream 6 June 340/3 Commodore Peabody's new cutter-sloop..has been likened to an Irish ‘moss boat’ magnified three or four times.
1938 B. L. Burman Blow for Landing 118 They reached the moss boat that formed the cast vessel of the colony. A woe-begone dog stole out from a mound of blackened moss at its bow.
moss-box n. Coal Mining (now historical) a stuffing box filled with moss, formerly used in Kind and Chaudron's method of sinking shafts through water-bearing strata.
ΚΠ
1877 Encycl. Brit. VI. 631 A sliding length of tube, known as the moss-box... The moss..squeeze outwards, forming a completely water-tight joint.
1954 Encycl. Brit. XX. 431/1 The moss-box is now usually omitted, the concreting being relied on to make the lining water-tight.
moss campion n. a pink-flowered, almost stemless, mat-forming campion, Silene acaulis, found on mountains and in Arctic areas of Eurasia and North America.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > according to family > Caryophyllaceae (chickweeds and allies) > [noun] > campion and ragged robin
cow-rattle14..
campion1576
behen1578
crowsoap1578
white campion1578
catchfly1597
feather-top wild campion1597
frothy poppy1597
lime-wort1597
nonsuch1597
sea campion1597
spattling poppy (also campion)1597
Greek rose1601
lychnis1601
knap-bottle1640
moss pink1641
Lobel's catchfly1664
red robin1678
moss campion1690
red campion1728
round robin1741
Silene1751
Nottingham catchfly1762
silenal1836
Robin Hood1844
thunder-flower1853
gunpowder weed1860
sea-catchfly1864
robin redbreast1880
poppy1886
thunderbolt1886
rattleweed1893
cancer1896
bladder-campion-
1690 J. Ray Synopsis Methodica Stirpium Brit. 141 Lychnis alpina minima... The least Mountain Campion, or Mosse Campion. On the steep and higher Rocks of Snowdon Hill..almost every where.
1791 C. Smith Celestina IV. 191 Lickens and moss campion.
1863 S. Baring-Gould Iceland 102 Here and there bloomed a little moss campion.
1992 Up Here (Yellowknife, N.W. Territories) Oct. 45/1 The rocky upland plateau displays scattered patches of moss campion, purple saxifrage, and mountain avens.
moss carder n. (more fully moss carder bee) a yellowish-brown bumblebee of Europe and northern Asia, Bombus muscorum, which makes its nest of moss or grass shreds.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Hymenoptera > [noun] > suborder Apocrita, Petiolata, or Heterophaga > group Aculeata (stinging) > superfamily Apoidea (bees) > member of family Bombidae (bumble-bee) > bombus muscorum
carding bee1781
carder1830
moss bee1832
moss carder1853
clothier-bee1864
1853 Zoologist 11 4097 A moss-carders' nest.
1932 E. Step Bees, Wasps, Ants & Allied Insects 16 Moss Carder-bee... This is another of the bees with quieter colouring,..covering its nest with moss or shredded grass.
1991 J. Zahradnik Bees, Wasps & Ants 178 Bombus muscorum—Moss Carder Bee—is consistent in its colouring: it is covered with yellowish-brown hair.
moss-cheeper n. Scottish and Irish English (northern) (a) the meadow pipit, Anthus pratensis; (b) (in full white-winged moss-cheeper) the reed bunting, Emberiza schoeniclus.
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the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > non-arboreal (larks, etc.) > [noun] > family Motacillidae > genus Anthus > anthus pratensis (titlark)
titlingc1550
linget1552
lark1602
chit1610
meadowlark1611
cucknel1655
titlark1666
cheeper1684
moss-cheeper1684
old-field lark1805
ling-bird1814
tit-pipit1817
meadow pipit1825
meadow titling1828
furze-lark1854
peep1859
1684 R. Sibbald Scotl. Illustr. ii. iii. 22 Titlinga, Titling, or Moss-cheeper.
1774 Weekly Mag. 24 Feb. 269 A gentleman in this neighbourhood found in one of his fields, the nest of a small bird commonly called a Moss-cheeper.
1874 R. Wanlock Moorland Rhymes 49 Roun' by Necony the heather blumes bonnie, And sweet is the lilt o' the moss-cheeper's sang.
1901 Shooting Times 22 June 21/2 The reed bunting is almost entirely known in the North of Ireland as the ‘white winged moss-cheeper’.
1951 E. E. Evans Mowne Country 81 Above the limits of cultivation the only bird that can be considered common is the meadow pipit, called also the heather-grey or moss-cheeper.
moss-copper n. rare fine filaments of copper formed while the metal is being worked (see quot. 1861).
ΚΠ
1861 J. Percy Metall.: Fuel 359 Moss-copper. In copper-works this term is commonly used to designate those accumulations of filamentous, or moss-like copper, which are formed in cavities in pigs of certain kinds of regulus.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Metazoa > grade Triploblastica or Coelomata > phylum Polyzoa > [noun] > member of
coralline1721
coralloid1750
fenestella1849
bryozoan1851
moss-coral1853
polyzoan1856
moss animal1858
moss-polyp1876
fenestellid1882
moss animalcule1890
tentaculibranchiatec1904
1853 Hogg's Instructor 3rd Ser. 1 13/1 The flustra, or moss-corals.
moss crêpe n. a dress fabric with a mosslike texture.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > textile fabric > textile fabric made from specific material > made from choice of fibres > [noun] > crape > types of
lampas1390
crêpe lisse1797
aerophane1829
crape-lesse1858
Albert crepe1871
romaine1904
météor1908
georgette1912
marocain1922
mossy crêpe1945
moss crêpe1955
1955 E. Ostick Draper's Encycl. iii. 84 Moss crêpe is a dress fabric which relies for its characteristic effect on a special yarn called a moss crêpe yarn.
1998 H. Rous in O. Clark Diaries Introd. p. xxvi Celia Birtwell created some of the most beautiful dress fabrics..characterised by Art Deco forms and Audubon botanical sketches..that decked satin moss crêpes and wispy chiffons.
moss-earth n. now rare (perh. Obsolete) earth composed of, or largely mixed with, peat; (also) marshy or boggy soil.
ΚΠ
a1600 (?c1535) tr. H. Boece Hist. Scotl. (Mar Lodge) (1946) vi. vii. f. 198 At ane strenth, environyt with moss eird, he lugeit his armye.
1805 W. Aiton (title) A Treatise on the origin, qualities, and cultivation of Moss-earth.
1857 S. Smiles Life George Stephenson (1859) xx. 243 A mass of loose moss-earth and sand fell from the roof, which had been insufficiently propped.
moss-fibre n. [perhaps after German Moosfaser] Anatomy (now rare) = mossy fibre n. at mossy adj. and n. Compounds 2.
ΚΠ
1900 W. A. N. Dorland Amer. Illustr. Med. Dict. at Fiber Moss-fiber, a peculiar form of nerve-fiber, so called from its shape.
1906 D. J. Cunningham Text-bk. Anat. (ed. 2) 514 The fibres which end in the granular layer are called moss-fibres..because..they present at certain points moss-like thickenings.
moss flow n. now rare a watery part of a bog or morass; (also) the movement of the soil in a peatbog in wet conditions; an instance of this.
ΚΠ
1816 W. Scott Old Mortality viii, in Tales of my Landlord 1st Ser. II. 202 The hundreds forced from their ain habitations to the deserts, mountains, muirs, mosses, moss-flows, and peat-hags.
1918 Jrnl. Ecol. 6 4 The occurrence of a ‘moss-flow’ or ‘moor-break’ (Moorbruch), that is the slipping or movement of a considerable area of water-logged peat, could initiate an extensive system of peat haggs.
1929 Herding Hill Hersel 15 A Blackface ewe on a ‘moss flow’ on a misty day in company with the mosscrops and the golden plovers.
ΚΠ
1805 W. Aiton Moss-earth 109 The water-courses in moss..are much obstructed by the moss-fog.
1831 W. Patrick Pop. Descr. Plants Lanarkshire Pref. 20 Tracts of land,..yielding chiefly Heather..and Moss-fogs, such as Sphagnums, Bryums, Polytrichums.
moss-gold n. rare the yellow club fungus Clavulinopsis corniculata (said to grow among mosses).
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > fungi > [noun] > other fungi
bolet1526
boletus1601
byssus1753
fly-fungus1822
turban-top1828
stilbid1846
empusa1856
Scotch bonnet1861
wolf's-milk1861
lizard's herb1866
fairy ring1870
Malta fungus1870
flowers of tan1882
mycorrhiza1886
fumago1887
milky cap1887
moss-gold1887
oomycete1889
razor strop fungus1893
club-fungusa1909
sulphur tuft1909
bolete1914
old man of the woods1972
1887 W. D. Hay Elem. Text-bk. Brit. Fungi 117 Clavaria muscoides, the Moss-gold.
moss green adj. and n. (a) adj. of a green colour resembling that of moss; (b) n. this colour.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > colour > named colours > green or greenness > [noun] > shade or tint of green > dark green
steel-greena1560
moss green1705
bottle1784
corbeau1810
forest-green1810
rifle green1829
spinach-green1845
hunter's green1872
moss1897
army green1908
jungle green1946
loden1964
1705 E. Arwaker Birth-night 4 Am'rous Pairs in Rosie Garlands crown'd, On Moss-green Carpets dance an artless Round.
1879 Cassell's Family Mag. Mar. 249/1 Beige shades go with moss-green.
1938 R. Field All this & Heaven Too (1939) xxiii. 302 She..selected her best dress, the moss-green moire with bands of russet.
1972 H. C. Rae Shooting Gallery iii. 210 Tight broadcloth pants in moss green.
1999 Art Room Catal. Summer 7/3 Photographs are set off by specially chosen mounts of a handmade moss green paper.
moss grieve n. Scottish = moss reeve n.
ΚΠ
1651 in Rep. Royal Comm. Hist. MSS: Var. Coll. (1909) V. 250 Mosgriues.
1952 Press & Jrnl. (Aberdeen) 16 Apr. 5/2 (advt.) All those requiring peat banks..apply on or before 7th May to Wm. Murray, Moss Grieve.
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the world > life > the body > hair > types of hair > [noun] > frizzy
frizzle1613
moss hair1689
wool1697
frizziness1906
Brillo1968
frizzies1980
1689 London Gaz. No. 2433/4 Run away.., a Negro Man of a Tawny Complexion, with Mosse Hair.
moss-head n. U.S. regional the hooded merganser, Mergus cucullatus.
ΚΠ
1888 G. Trumbull Names & Portraits Birds 75 The colored women often use a large bunch of ‘Florida moss’, Tillandsia usneoides, as a cushion for the heavy loads they carry on their heads, and I am inclined to believe that ‘Moss-head’ was suggested by this practice, rather than by any resemblance to moss in the bird's crest.
1917 T. G. Pearson Birds Amer. I. 112/1 Hooded Merganser, Lophodytes cucullatus (Linnæus). Other Names.—..Moss-head.
1949 A. Sprunt & E. B. Chamberlain S. Carolina Bird Life 145 Hooded Merganser... Local names: hairyhead;..mosshead.
moss-hole n. a boggy hole or pit.
ΚΠ
1677 in G. S. Pryde Court Bk. Kirkintilloch (1963) 86 Ane complaint..for..filling of his mosseholls with hir lint.
1746 Compl. Farmer at Watering Flax Moss-holes..frequently answer well for watering the flax.
1915 J. Buchan Thirty-nine Steps iii. 71 You can lie as snug here as if you were in a moss-hole.
moss horn n. = mossy-horn n. at mossy adj. and n. Compounds 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > group Ruminantia (sheep, goats, cows, etc.) > bull > [noun] > castrated or bullock > old
mossy-horn1885
piker1887
mallee piker1893
moss horn1923
1923 A. M. Gildea in J. M. Hunter Trail Drivers of Texas II. 426 We went to work gathering a mixed herd for Nebraska and one of wild old ‘moss-horns’ for the Indian reservation.
1936 D. McCarthy (title) Language of the mosshorn.
1968 R. F. Adams Western Words (rev. ed.) 201/1 Mossy horn,..also called moss horn.
moss-house n. a garden shelter lined or covered with moss.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > gardening > equipment and buildings > [noun] > summer-house
summer house1519
garden house1535
cabinet1579
summer hall1583
kiosk1625
summer room1625
sunny chamber1641
shadow-house1649
alcove1663
root house1755
moss-house?1793
rose temple1848
?1793 W. Cowper (title) Inscription for a Moss-house in the Shrubbery at Weston.
1877 J. H. Ewing Great Emergency ii. ii. 146 We had settled to build a moss-house for my dolls.
moss killer n. a chemical preparation for killing moss, esp. on lawns.
ΚΠ
1960 J. W. Matthews N.Z. Garden Dict. (ed. 6) 138 Several proprietary moss-killers are now available at seed stores.
2000 Daily Record (Glasgow) (Nexis) 23 Dec. 32 Spreading a moss killer containing ferrous sulphate will alter the acidity of the soil and, over time, make it less attractive to worms.
moss locust n. U.S. the rose acacia, Robinia hispida.
ΚΠ
1890 Cent. Dict. Moss-locust.
1901 A. Lounsberry Southern Wild Flowers & Trees 275 R. hispida..is really the moss locust, holding among the acacias the same place as the moss rose does among roses.
1994 M. Griffiths Index Garden Plants 1002/1 R[obinia] hispida L. Rose acacia; moss locust; bristly locust.
moss-oak n. now rare oak-wood preserved in a black state in peatbogs, etc.; bog oak; (also) a seat made out of bog oak.
ΚΠ
1786 R. Burns Poems & Songs (1968) I. 161 He taks a swirlie, auld moss-oak, For some black, grousome Carlin.
1824 J. Mactaggart Sc. Gallovidian Encycl. 25 He claps his auld bum down on the mossaik by the cheek o' the chaumer door.
1898 S. R. Crockett Standard Bearer 188 He sat on the greater outer bench of moss-oak by the door-cheek.
moss opal n. a variety of opal containing dendritic markings like those of moss agate.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > gem or precious stone > opal > [noun] > varieties of
girasol1588
oculus mundi1661
eye of the world1730
hydrophane1784
cacholong1791
pitchstone1794
pyrophane1794
semi-opal1794
fire opal1811
sun opal1818
isopyre1827
alumocalcite1832
jasper-opal1843
opal jasper1848
resin opal1850
pitch opal1861
jasp-opal1868
opal-agate1868
harlequin1873
harlequin opal1887
wax-opal1896
potch1897
pinfire1902
moss opal1904
nobby1919
the world > the earth > minerals > types of mineral > silicates > tectosilicate > [noun] > quartz > amorphous quartz or opal > others
girasol1588
oculus mundi1661
hydrophane1784
cacholong1791
pitchstone1794
pyrophane1794
semi-opal1794
wood-stone1794
fire opal1811
wood-opal1816
sun opal1818
isopyre1827
jasper-opal1843
opal jasper1848
resin opal1850
natural glass1853
pitch opal1861
vitrite1866
jasp-opal1868
opal-agate1868
pearl opal1872
harlequin1873
harlequin opal1887
wax-opal1896
potch1897
moss opal1904
nobby1919
1904 L. J. Spencer tr. M. Bauer Precious Stones ii. 386 Milk-opal sometimes exhibits black arborescent markings, or dendrites so-called, similar to those in certain varieties of chalcedony. Opal of this kind is known as moss-opal. It is cut so as to bring the markings..near the surface.
1966 J. Sinkankas Mineral. ii. 447 If containing dendritic or mossy inclusions, it is called moss opal.
moss peat n. peat formed from mosses, esp. those of the genus Sphagnum.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > moss > [noun] > peat-moss
ooze1665
sphagnum1741
bog moss1785
peat moss1848
moss peat1875
1875 S. F. Peckham in Amer. Cycl. XIII. 217/2 Moss-peat is oftenest fibrous, and when dried forms elastic masses.
1990 Garden Answers Nov. 11/2 If the top soil lacks humus, work in moist moss peat or bark.
moss phlox n. = moss pink n. 2.
ΚΠ
1900 A. B. Lyons Plant Names 285 P. bryoides..,Nebraska to Wyoming, is called Moss Phlox.
1991 ‘W. Trevor’ Two Lives (1992) viii. 307 The General mentioned the names of various plants—moss phlox, I remember, and magnolia campbellii.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Metazoa > grade Triploblastica or Coelomata > phylum Polyzoa > [noun] > member of
coralline1721
coralloid1750
fenestella1849
bryozoan1851
moss-coral1853
polyzoan1856
moss animal1858
moss-polyp1876
fenestellid1882
moss animalcule1890
tentaculibranchiatec1904
1876 E. R. Lankester tr. E. Haeckel Hist. Creation II. xviii. 132 (table) Moss-polyps..Bryozoa.
1880 Science 7 Aug. 63/2 The Polyzoa or Moss-polyps.
moss-pot n. = moss-hole n.; also figurative.
ΚΠ
1722 Trans. Banffshire Field Club (1891) 29 He comes to an untimely end, having been drowned in a ‘moss-pot’.
1845 E. Robinson Whitehall II. xl. 191 What hath any of us done, that grace should come and lug us out of the moss~pot into which we have strayed of our own folly?
1932 J. White Moss Road iii Of course, we all ken that Betsy's an auld randy an' should be ducked in a moss-pot.
moss-rake n. a kind of rake used in gathering Irish moss.
ΚΠ
1883 Great Internat. Fisheries Exhib. Catal. 195 Sponge-hook, moss-rakes.
moss reeve n. an officer overseeing work or land claims on a peatbog.
ΚΠ
1552 in J. A. Picton City of Liverpool: Select. Munic. Rec. (1883) I. 59 Moss Reeves Thos Eyre Jno Sudley.
1886 R. Holland Gloss. Words County of Chester 231 Moss-Reeve, a bailiff or reeve appointed to regulate claims for land on the mosses.
moss-room n. Scottish and English regional (northern) (now historical) any of the plots of land (usually long and narrow) on a peatbog allotted to tenants of the area for the purpose of digging their own peats.
ΚΠ
1525 Wigtown Burgh Court Rec. f. 161 v Anent ane mois rowme of the Kyngis mois.
1579 in Lancs. & Cheshire Wills (1861) (Chetham Soc.) 94 I geve to my wieff sufficient turbarie uppon my mosse rowme at Shadowe Mosse.
1611 in C. S. Davies Hist. Macclesfield (1961) ii. 99 New Moss Rooms as They Lie Together.
1726 Ayr Presbytery Reg. MS 20 July 276 Mr Thomas Hunter gave in a petition to the presbytry craving they would please to appoint a Commitee for designing a mosse-room for peats to him & his successors according to Law.
1810 W. Marshall Rev. Rep. to Board Agric. from Western Dept. Eng. 111 Each farm, where there was a peatmoss in the township, had its moss-room allotted to it.
1886 R. Holland Gloss. Words County of Chester II. 231 Each person was restricted to width, but might work towards the centre of the moss as far as he liked; consequently the Moss-rooms in time became long, narrow strips.
ΚΠ
1777 J. Lightfoot Flora Scotica I. 225 [Saxifraga hypnoides] Moss Saxifrage. Anglis.
1796 W. Withering Arrangem. Brit. Plants (ed. 3) II. 407 [Saxifraga] hypnoides,..Ladies Cushion. Moss saxifrage.
1804 W. Bingley North Wales II. vi. 46 Craig y Cae... Its sullen and majestic front was enlivened only with patches of the moss saxifrage.
moss-seat n. a mossy seat; (also) a seat artificially mossed.
ΚΠ
1806 J. Black Falls of Clyde iii. i. 139 Upon a moss-seat Jamie sits alone, In pensive guise.
1821 W. Scott Kenilworth III. viii. 147 A grotto, ornamented with rustic work and moss-seats.
moss starch n. = lichenin n.
ΚΠ
1889 G. M'Gowan tr. A. Bernthsen Text-bk. Org. Chem. xiv. 294 Lichenin or moss starch, present in many lichens, e.g. in Iceland moss (Cetraria islandica), which is coloured a dirty blue by iodine.
1915 P. E. Spielman tr. V. von Richter Org. Chem. I. viii. 662 Lichenin, Moss-starch, (C6H10O5)n, occurs in many lichens, and in Iceland moss (Cetraria islandica).
moss stitch n. Knitting an arrangement of alternate knit and purl stitches producing a chequered pattern with a moss-like texture.
ΚΠ
1837 Miss Watts Ladies' Knitting & Netting Bk. 51 Moss stitch can be done with any even number of stitches.
1933 M. Tillotson Compl. Knitting Bk. v. 64 The flat, firm fabric made by the moss stitch gives a good border at the hem and sides.
2001 Chicago Sun-Times (Nexis) 11 Jan. 46 It's made of 24 blocks using stockinette and moss stitch and is suitable for those with intermediate knitting skills.
ΚΠ
1795 J. Sinclair Statist. Acct. Scotl. VI. 481 The establishment of the moss tenants (or lairds, as they are called) in the mosses of Kincardine and Flanders.
1799 J. Robertson Gen. View Agric. Perth 496 The obloquy of becoming a moss-tenant gradually became less regarded.
ΚΠ
1673 J. Ray Observ. Journey Low-countries 7 These under-ground Trees..are found of them plentifully in many places, the Wood whereof they usually call Moss-Wood, because it is for the most part digged up in the Mosses or moorish boggy Fens and Levels.
1686 R. Plot Nat. Hist. Staffs. vi. 217 This moss-wood (as some call it) grew not farr from where found.
1869 J. C. Atkinson Peacock's Gloss. Dial. Hundred of Lonsdale 56 Moss-wood,..trunks and stumps of trees, frequently found in morasses.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > ornamental art and craft > pattern or design > [noun] > others
popinjay1322
serpent1388
moss-work1600
flame1602
frostwork1631
damask branch1634
mascaron1664
lacework1675
swash1680
branch-work1702
escallop-shella1706
festoon work1712
ovum1728
bricking1760
rising sun1787
ram's horn1842
linen-pattern1845
linen-scroll1854
wheel-rood1862
primal1875
patch ornament1878
tree1879
wheel-cross1882
skeuomorph1889
linenfold1891
taotie1915
boteh1917
pelta1935
starburst1953
quilling1972
towel-pattern-
1600 in J. Arnold Queen Elizabeth's Wardrobe Unlock'd (1988) 294/1 Item one foreparte of white Satten cut and embrodered allover with a Mosse worke of lardge flowers within a plate lace like waves.
1615 G. Sandys Relation of Journey 181 The compassed roofe adorned with mos-worke and Mosaique guilding.
1648 R. Herrick Hesperides sig. C Laid out for dead, let thy last kindnesse be With leaves and mosse-work for to cover me.
1799 J. Robertson Gen. View Agric. Perth 509 Though moss-work be laborious.
1875 C. P. Cranch Shelling Peas in Bird & Bell 204 She was handsomer 'n ever I seen, Like a rose all alone in a moss-work o' green.
2001 Clan War Painted Tori Gate in rec.games.frp.marketplace (Usenet newsgroup) 29 Jan. Notice the water effects, bubbles, the lichen/moss work, the simple yet complex nature of the whole. A very classy piece to add to any oriental table top game area!
b. In the names of plants growing in bogs.† moss-corn n. (also moss-corns) Scottish Obsolete silverweed, Potentilla anserina.
ΚΠ
1808 J. Jamieson Etymol. Dict. Sc. Lang. (at cited word) Moss-corns, silverweed... Also called Moss-crops, and Moor-grass.
1818 J. Hogg Brownie of Bodsbeck II. 269 He [sc. a boar] found nothing to eat, save one or two moss-corns [etc.].
moss-rush n. now rare (perh. Obsolete) the heath rush or goose-corn, Juncus squarrosus.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > a grass or grasses > reedy or aquatic grasses > [noun] > rush and related plants
rusheOE
sharp rushc1050
seave14..
junk?a1425
candle-rushc1440
rush1562
sea-rush1562
camel's-straw1578
mat-rush1578
sprot1595
frog grass1597
matweed1597
rush grass1597
sprata1600
spart1614
bumble1633
toad-grass1640
moss-rush1670
thresha1689
spreta1700
bog rush1760
black grassa1763
goose-corn1762
toad-rush1776
wood-rush1776
stool-bent1777
scrub-grass1811
beak-rush1830
salt-weed1836
wiwi1840
thread rush1861
three-leaved rush1861
kill-cow1898
1670 J. Ray Catalogus Plantarum Angliæ 178 Juncus acutus Cambro-britannicus Park. Mosse-rush, Goose-corn. It is common in the mountainous, moorish, and boggy places, as on the Moor-lands in Stafford-shire [etc.].
1762 W. Hudson Flora Anglica 130 Juncus culmo nudo,..Moss-rush or Goose-corn.
1858 A. Irvine Illustr. Handbk. Brit. Plants 269 J. squarrosus, Linn. Moss rush—goose Corn.
1995 J. M. Sims-Kimbrey Wodds & Doggerybaw: Lincs. Dial. Dict. 290/2 Star,..the moss rush.
moss-whin n. now rare (perh. Obsolete) petty whin, Genista anglica.
ΚΠ
1853 G. Johnston Bot. E. Borders 51 G[enista] anglica. Moor-Whin: Heather-Whin: Moss-Whin.
1863 R. C. A. Prior On Pop. Names Brit. Plants 154 Moor-whin, or Moss-whin, a whin that grows on bleak heaths and mosses. Genista anglica, L.
1893 R. O. Heslop Northumberland Words Moss-Whin, the needle genista, Genista anglica, L. Called also moor-whin and heather-whin.
moss-willow n. now rare a willow, (perhaps) Salix repens.
ΚΠ
a1869 C. Spence From Braes of Carse (1898) 60 Lichen, and liver grass, And the moss willow Curtain the narrow pass.
1903 Eng. Dial. Dict. IV. 169/2 Moss-willow, probably the Salix fusca.
Derivatives
ˈmoss-like adj.
ΚΠ
1648 R. Herrick Hesperides sig. N8v Mosse-like silk.
1881 J. Tyndall Ess. Floating Matter of Air 161 Patches of moss-like matter would appear here and there in the field of the microscope.
2000 C. Tudge Variety of Life ii. v. 205 Some look moss-like, and hence are called ‘sea mosses’.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2002; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
† mossn.2
Obsolete.
A bundle or ‘head’ of raw silk (see head n.1 43).
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > silk > [noun] > quantity of
moss1753
head1825
strick1887
1753 J. Hanway Hist. Acct. Brit. Trade Caspian Sea II. iv. 18 The moss, or head of silk, often appears fair to the eye, when much coarseness is concealed under it... They generally comb the heads of the mosses to deceive the buyer.
1937 Textile Mercury & Argus 8 Oct. 365/1 Mosses, large hanks of reeled silk, weighing about 1 lb. each, produced by the Chinese for the home industries.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2002; most recently modified version published online March 2019).
mossn.3
/mɒs/, U.S. /mɔs/, /mɑs/ = moss rose n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > particular flower or plant esteemed for flower > [noun] > rose and allied flowers > rose > types of rose flower or bush
summer rosea1456
French rose1538
damask rose?a1547
musk rose1559
province1562
winter rose1577
Austrian brier1590
rose of Provence1597
velvet rose1597
damasine-rose1607
Provence rose1614
blush-rose1629
maiden's blush1648
monthly rose tree1664
Provinsa1678
York and Lancaster rose1688
cinnamon rose1699
muscat rose1707
cabbage rose1727
China-rose1731
old-fashioned rose1773
moss rose1777
swamp rose1785
alba1797
Cherokee rose1804
Macartney rose1811
shepherd's rose1818
multiflora1820
prairie rose1822
Boursault1826
Banksian rose1827
maiden rose1827
moss1829
Noisette1829
seven sisters rose1830
Dundee rambler1834
Banksia rose1835
Chickasaw rose1835
Bourbon1836
climbing rose1836
green rose1837
hybrid China1837
Jaune Desprez1837
Lamarque1837
perpetual1837
pillar rose1837
rambler1837
wax rose1837
rugosa1840
China1844
Manetti1846
Banksian1847
remontant1847
gallica1848
hybrid perpetual1848
Persian Yellow1848
pole rose1848
monthly1849
tea rose1850
quarter sessions rose1851
Gloire de Dijon1854
Jacqueminot1857
Maréchal Niel1864
primrose1864
jack1867
La France1868
tea1869
Ramanas rose1876
Japanese rose1883
polyantha1883
old rose1885
American Beauty1887
hybrid tea1890
Japan rose1895
roselet1896
floribunda1898
Zéphirine Drouhin1901
Penzance briar1902
Dorothy Perkins1903
sweetheart1905
wichuraiana1907
mermaid1918
species rose1930
sweetheart rose1936
peace1944
shrub rose1948
1829 J. C. Loudon Encycl. Plants 445 Where one of the larger free-growing sorts is employed, as the moss, or any of the Provence varieties, one plant may be trained so as to cover a surface of many square yards.
1837 T. Rivers Rose Amateur's Guide 8 The Perpetual White Moss is a Damask Rose.
1869 S. R. Hole Bk. Roses 103 He admires the..Mosses, Chinas and Bourbons.
1900 W. Robinson Eng. Flower Garden (ed. 8) 777/1 In addition to the Common Moss, there is Little Gem, a charming miniature Rose.
1990 Garden (Royal Hort. Soc.) May 268/1 Another good and unusual Moss is the taller ‘Goethe’.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2002; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
mossv.
/mɒs/, U.S. /mɔs/, /mɑs/ 1. intransitive. To become mossy (in various senses); to gather moss. Also with over.Sometimes with allusion to the proverb: see moss n.1 6.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > moss > become mossy [verb (intransitive)]
mossc1390
fog1715
the world > matter > condition of matter > bad condition of matter > deteriorate in condition [verb (intransitive)] > become covered with moss
mossc1390
the world > life > the body > hair > types of hair > [verb (intransitive)] > down
moss1654
c1390 (a1376) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Vernon) (1867) A. x. 101 (MED) Selden Moseþ [v.r. mosseth] þe Marbelston þat men ofte treden.
?c1450 in G. Müller Aus Mittelengl. Medizintexten (1929) 84 (MED) Do it all to-gedere in a vessel of tre or of erthe, to þat it be hore and mosed.
a1475 How Good Wife wolde Pylgremage l. 12 in T. F. Mustanoja How Good Wife taught her Daughter (1948) 173 (MED) Syldon mossyth the ston þat oftyn ys tornnyd and wende.
1654 E. Gayton Pleasant Notes Don Quixot ii. iii. 42 Sancho's face moss'd, and his chinne had a down sprung out.
1845 S. Judd Margaret i. xvii. 168 The large moist flakes that fell in the morning, had dressed, furred, mossed over every limb and twig.
1939 G. Greene Lawless Roads iv. 119 Would the Cupid's bow just moss a little more as the flowers dropped?
1960 J. Barth Sot-weed Factor i. iii. 22 Luckily for him (else he might have mossed over where he sat), Ebenezer was roused from his remarkable trance shortly after dinnertime.
2. † b. transitive. To put moss between or under the slates or tiles of (a building, etc.); to roof with moss. Obsolete.† d. transitive. To cover the trunks of (cinchona trees) with moss to increase the yield of alkaloid. Obsolete.
a. transitive. To cover or line with moss.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > gardening > management of plants > [verb (transitive)] > cover with moss or fern
fernc1420
moss?1440
tr. Palladius De re Rustica (Duke Humfrey) (1896) iii. 365 (MED) Do cley vppon and mose hit al aboute.
tr. Palladius De re Rustica (Duke Humfrey) (1896) iii. 419 (MED) Cleme hit, mose hit, bynd hit soft abowte.
1779 G. White Jrnl. 12 July (1970) xii. 164 Mossed the hills of the white cucumbers to keep them moist.
1958 Listener 11 Sept. 383/3 Moss the basket well, and fill it with a fairly rich soil.
1992 New Yorker 20 July 37/3 First, I mossed up the table, then I strewed calla lillies in wet Oasis.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > building or constructing > building or providing with specific parts > build or provide with specific parts [verb (transitive)] > roof > roof with moss
moss1478
1478 [implied in: 1478 in L. F. Salzman Building in Eng. (1992) xv. 234 Moseying and poyntynge. (at mossing n.)].
1591 [implied in: Churchwardens' Accts. Minchinhampton in Archaeologia (1853) 35 436 To William Webbe, the tyler, upon a bargin for mosing and tiling and pynting of the church house and pentises, vij s. (at mossing n.)].
1657 Churchwardens' Accts. Prestwich in Church Times (1905) 24 Mar. 395 Pd. to George Milln's son ffor mossinge the church 01. 06. 08.
1722 Churchwardens' Accts. Finghall (MS) Pd. for liming & mossing ye Ch'ch, 10s 6d.
c. transitive. To cover with a growth of moss (also with over). Usually in passive. Frequently figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > moss > cover with moss [verb (transitive)]
entapisse1595
mossa1616
a1616 W. Shakespeare As you like It (1623) iv. iii. 105 Vnder an old Oake, whose bows were moss'd with age. View more context for this quotation
1660 E. Waterhouse Disc. Arms & Armory 3 But when they are sober, learned, and usefull, to let them be Mossed over with the scurfe of neglect.
1836 E. B. Browning Poet's Vow v. x When years had mossed the stone.
1839 P. J. Bailey Festus 346 The world shall rest, and moss itself with peace.
1894 ‘M. Twain’ in N. Amer. Rev. July 117 It was her other self that was there..in those early sweet times before antiquity had cooled her off and mossed her back.
1909 Westm. Gaz. 12 May 1/3 Nature..has mossed the gravel walks and roads.
1978 P. Larkin Let. 23 Dec. in Sel. Lett. (1992) 593 It was about a great meaningless lump of misery dropped suddenly into your life, and..slowly mossed over with daily routine.
ΚΠ
1863–4 W. G. McIvor Extract from Rep. Govt. Chinchona Plantations §35 With the permission of Government I will at once moss from 7,000 to 10,000 of our largest plants.
1876 Encycl. Brit. V. 781/2 A system of mossing the plants, which consists in wrapping the growing stems in a layer of damp moss.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > forestry or arboriculture > [verb (transitive)] > remove moss from
moss1677
1677 Dade's Prognostication f. Av, vij May... Weed your Hop-Gardens, and take away superfluous Branches, and Moss your Gardens.
1707 J. Mortimer Whole Art Husbandry (1721) II. 78 If the Moss is much and long..it may..do well to prune off the greatest part of the Branches, and to Moss the rest.
1797 W. Nicol Sc. Forcing Gardener 175 Washing the branches and stem of trees, which are anywise mossed, with soapsuds and sulphur.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > cultivation of plants or crops > picking or gathering > [verb (intransitive)] > gather other specific objects
moss1895
1700 [implied in: O. Heywood Autobiogr., Diaries, Anecd. & Event Bks. (1885) IV. 231 Sam. Stocks came a mossing. (at mossing n.)].
1895 M. L. Pool Boss in Chapbk. III. 480 I've moss'd twenty year, 'n' I never slipped to speak of before.
5. intransitive. Scottish. To work in a peatbog; to cut and prepare peats. Now rare.
ΚΠ
1866 W. Gregor Dial. Banffshire (Philol. Soc.) 115 Moss, to employ one's self in cutting and preparing peats.
1922 Banffshire Jrnl. 18 Apr. 2 The crafters, mossin' to the tap, can hear..the grouse scraich ower the meer.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2002; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1OE
n.21753
n.31829
v.c1390