- 1[intransitive, transitive] (of a person) to make a long deep sound, usually expressing unhappiness, suffering, or physical pleasure synonym groan The injured man was lying on the ground, moaning. moan in/with something to moan in/with pain + speech “I might never see you again,” she moaned.
Want to learn more?
Find out which words work together and produce more natural sounding English with the Oxford Collocations Dictionary app.
- 2[intransitive] moan (about something) (informal) to complain about something in a way that other people find annoying They're always moaning and groaning about how much they have to do.
- 3[intransitive] (literary) (especially of the wind) to make a long deep sound The wind was moaning through the trees.
moan
verbNAmE//moʊn//
Verb Forms present simple I / you / we / they moan he / she / it moans
past simple moaned
-ing form moaning
nounSee moan in the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary
Check pronunciation: moan