Word.ws English Dictionary

moonrat

/ˈmuːnɹæt/

moonrat noun: a gymnure, especially the greater gymnure, Echinosorex gymnura.

moonrat: a gymnure, especially the greater gymnure, Echinosorex gymnura
Image: David Starner, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

moonrat (plural moonrats)

  1. A gymnure, especially the greater gymnure, Echinosorex gymnura.
    • Incidental observations on moonrats Echinosorex gymnurus in Malaysia suggests that this species is uncommon everywhere but does occur in low numbers in logged^((1-12:51)) forest in peninsular Malaysia (Johns 1989a).1997, Andrew Grieser Johns, Timber Production and Biodiversity Conservation in Tropical Rain Forests, page 87
    • The smell of rotting onions, stale sweat, or ammonia may indicate the presence of a moonrat, which produces a strong scent from two glands near the anus. The animal uses this powerful odor to mark its territory. A solitary creature, the moonrat will emit hiss-puffs and low roars if it encounters...2004, Fred Cooke, The Encyclopedia of Animals: A Complete Visual Guide, page 86

Examples of moonrat in a sentence

  • The smell of rotting onions, stale sweat, or ammonia may indicate the presence of a moonrat, which produces a strong scent from two glands near the anus.2004, Fred Cooke, The Encyclopedia of Animals: A Complete Visual Guide, page 86:
  • Moonrats are a lowland forest species which feed primarily on worms and arthropods.2005, E. Meijaard, editor, Life After Logging, page 82:

Forms of moonrat

pluralmoonrats
alternative formmoon rat

Origin of moonrat

From moon + rat, a calque of Malay tikus balan (tikus (“rat”) + bulan (“moon”)).

Questions about moonrat

What does moonrat mean?
Moonrat means a gymnure, especially the greater gymnure, Echinosorex gymnura.
How do you use moonrat in a sentence?
The smell of rotting onions, stale sweat, or ammonia may indicate the presence of a moonrat, which produces a strong scent from two glands near the anus.
What part of speech is moonrat?
Moonrat is a noun.
How do you pronounce moonrat?
Moonrat is pronounced /ˈmuːnɹæt/.
What is the plural of moonrat?
The plural of moonrat is moonrats.

Words near moonrat in the dictionary

  1. moonquakes
  2. moonraker
  3. moonrakers
  4. moonraking
  5. moonran
  6. moonrat
  7. moonrats
  8. moonrise
  9. moonrises
  10. moonrock
  11. moonrocks

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: moonrat (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: “moonrat.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/moonrat. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.