mooncalf
UK/ˈmuːnkɑːf/
mooncalf noun: an abnormal mass within the uterus; a false conception.
Noun
mooncalf (plural mooncalves)
- 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...
- A poorly conceived idea or plan.
- 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
- But I can think of no one but a mooncalf or a gaby
Who would trust their own child to raise a baby.1957, Ogden Nash, “Come On In, The Senility Is Fine”, in You Can’t Get There From Here, Boston: Little, Brown & Co., page 66
Forms of mooncalf
| plural | mooncalves |
|---|---|
| alternative form | moon-calf |
Origin of mooncalf
From moon + calf, after a superstition that the moon caused abnormal fetal development.
Questions about mooncalf
- What does mooncalf mean?
- Mooncalf means an abnormal mass within the uterus; a false conception.
- What part of speech is mooncalf?
- Mooncalf is a noun.
- How do you pronounce mooncalf?
- Mooncalf is pronounced /ˈmuːnkɑːf/ (UK).
- What is the plural of mooncalf?
- The plural of mooncalf is mooncalves.
Words near mooncalf in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: 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.
Last updated:
Cite this entry: “mooncalf.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/mooncalf. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.