Word.ws English Dictionary

moon-calf

moon-calf is the alternative form of mooncalf.

Meaning of mooncalf

Noun

mooncalf (plural mooncalves)

  1. (archaic) An abnormal mass within the uterus; a false conception.
    • Thou art very Trinculo indeed! How camest thou to be the siege of this moon-calf? Can he vent Trinculos?1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published...
  2. A poorly conceived idea or plan.
  3. A dreamer, someone absent-minded or distracted; a fool, simpleton.
    • “[…] you’re a jobbernowl and a doodle, a maundering mooncalf and a blockheaded numps, a gaby and a loon; you’re a Hatter!” I shrieked the last epithet.1902, John Kendrick Bangs, chapter 10, in Olympian Nights, New York: Harper & Bros., page 185

Forms of moon-calf

pluralmoon-calves

Questions about moon-calf

What is moon-calf the alternative form of?
Moon-calf is the alternative form of mooncalf.

Words near moon-calf in the dictionary

  1. moon-bill
  2. moon-bills
  3. moon-blind
  4. moon-cake
  5. moon-cakes
  6. moon-calf
  7. moon-calves
  8. moon-child
  9. moon-children
  10. moon-eye
  11. moon-eyed

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: moon-calf (page history and authors); mooncalf (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “moon-calf.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/moon-calf. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.