From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishmoonmoon1 /muːn/ ●●● S3 W3 noun 1 → the moon/the Moon2 [countable usually singular]HACF the appearance or shape of the moon at a particular time It was the night of the full moon. a clear night with a bright moon a thin crescent moon 3 [countable]HA a round object that moves around a planet other than Earth the moons of Saturn4 → ask for the moon5 → over the moon6 → many moons ago → once in a blue moon at once1(15), → promise somebody the moon at promise1(3)COLLOCATIONS – Meaning 2: the appearance or shape of the moon at a particular timeADJECTIVES/NOUN + moonbrightThe moon was very bright.a full moon (=with a completely round shape)A full moon hung low in the sky.a half moon (=looking like half a circle)A half moon was up now, pale and cool.a crescent moon (=with a thin curved shape)The stars and thin crescent moon gave just enough light to see the path.a new moon (=a very thin moon which is just starting to get bigger)It was twilight and a new moon was rising.a silver/yellow moonIt was a frosty night, with a cold silver moon.a pale moonHer face glowed in the light of the pale moon.a harvest moon (=the full moon that appears in late September or early October)Over the potato fields a harvest moon was rising.verbsthe moon shinesThe moon shone through the window.the moon rises (also the moon comes up)He watched the full moon come up over the trees.the moon appearsA brilliant moon appeared over the mountains.the moon comes out (=appears as it gets dark or a cloud moves)The moon came out from behind the clouds.the moon hangs somewhere literary (=stays there for a long time)The moon hung over the quiet sea.the moon sets (=goes down so that you cannot see it)The moon had set, but the sky was clear.the moon waxes (=gets bigger each night)The moon waxed larger over the next few days.the moon wanes (=gets smaller each night)The August moon was waning.phrasesthe light of the moonThe clouds blocked out the light of the moon.there is no moonThere was no moon, and the fields were completely dark.
Examples from the Corpus
moon• There's no moon tonight.• It fell on my legs and lap through the skylight, a lovely slow silver moon.• Already the moon was up, a full moon bathing everything in a pale blue light.• There was nothing she could not do, he said, check the stars, even, and the moon.• But it was like the moon.• We arrived by the light of the moon.• I opened my eyes and through the cabin window saw the sliver of the moon just over the horizon.• Staff here are all over the moon.• You spend the next two days en route to the moon.• the moons of Saturnmoonmoon2 verb [intransitive, transitive] informalJOKEINSULT to bend over and show your buttocks as a joke or a way of insulting someone → moon about/around → moon over somebody/something→ See Verb tableExamples from the Corpus
moon• Is that you mooning about again?• You did not moon about love.• Sometimes it's so they can moon around and say how beautiful it all was and pretend they're still lifers there.• What good can you do mooning around worrying, picking at your food like an anorexic, and giving yourself splitting headaches?• It's bad enough that Timothy's mooning over her like a schoolboy, wet behind the ears.• And Alice had better get off her high horse and realize there was more to life than mooning over Lester Stoner.• One couple mooned the President's limousine as it drove past.Origin moon1 Old English mona 