moss-grown
/ˈmɒsɡɹəʊn/US/ˈmɔsˌɡɹoʊn/
moss-grown adjective: having a covering of growing moss.
Adjective
moss-grown (comparative more moss-grown, superlative most moss-grown)
- Having a covering of growing moss.
- Diſeaſed nature oftentimes breakes forth, / In ſtrange eruptions, oft the teeming earth / Is with a kind of collicke pincht and vext, / By the impriſoning of vnruly wind / Within her vvombe, vvhich for enlargement ſtriuing / Shakes the old Beldame earth, and topples down / Steeples and moſſegrovvn...c. 1597 (date written), [William Shakespeare], The History of Henrie the Fourth; […], quarto edition, London: […] P[eter] S[hort] for Andrew Wise, […], published 1598, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i]
- In theſe lone walls (their days eternal bound) / Theſe moſs-grown domes with ſpiry turrets crown'd, / Where awful arches make a noon-day night, / And the dim windows ſhed a ſolemn light; / Thy eyes diffus'd a reconciling ray, / And gleams of glory brighten'd all the day.1717, Alexander Pope, “Eloisa to Abelard”, in The Works of Mr. Alexander Pope, volume I, London: […] W[illiam] Bowyer, for Bernard Lintot, […], published 1717, →OCLC, page 424
- Synonyms:
- mossy
- Old; old-fashioned, out of date.
- To find one's self suddenly translated from the wild, flowery prairie into the heart of an aged, moss-grown village, of such foreign aspect, withal, was by no means easy to reconcile with one's notions of reality.1838, [Edmund Flagg], chapter XXV, in The Far West: Or, A Tour beyond the Mountains. […] In Two Volumes, volume II, New York, N.Y.: Published by Harper & Brothers, […], →OCLC, page 32
- It was reserved for chivalry, embodying the spirit of christianity, to demolish this old, moss-grown bastile of the social state, and restore its captives to freedom, and the rights and prerogatives of freedom.1840, “Chivalry and the Crusades”, in The American Miscellany of Popular Tales, Essays, Sketches of Character, Poetry, and Jeux d’Esprit, volume II, number 38, London: G. Berger, […]; Simpkin...
- Synonyms:
- antiquated, ancient, aged, age-old, antediluvian, auld, cobwebbed, cobwebby, decrepit, eld
Examples of moss-grown in a sentence
- In one spot distinguished by a moss-grown gothic monument, which retained the name of Queen's Standing, Elizabeth herself was said to have pierced seven bucks with her own arrows.1814 July 7, [Walter Scott], “Castle-building”, in Waverley; or, ’Tis Sixty Years Since. […], 2nd edition, volume I, Edinburgh: […] James...
- The native State of Patrick Henry Hanway was a moss-grown member of the republic and had been one of the original thirteen.1904, Alfred Henry Lewis, “How a President is Bred”, in The President: A Novel, New York, N.Y.: A[lfred] S[mith] Barnes and Company, →OCLC...
Synonyms of moss-grown
14 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Forms of moss-grown
| comparative | more moss-grown |
|---|---|
| superlative | most moss-grown |
| alternative form | mossgrown |
Origin of moss-grown
From moss + grown. Sense 2 (“old; old-fashioned, out of date”) refers to the fact that moss will often grow on an object that has remained outdoors in one place for some time.
Questions about moss-grown
- What does moss-grown mean?
- Moss-grown means having a covering of growing moss.
- How do you use moss-grown in a sentence?
- In one spot distinguished by a moss-grown gothic monument, which retained the name of Queen's Standing, Elizabeth herself was said to have pierced seven bucks with her own arrows.
- What part of speech is moss-grown?
- Moss-grown is an adjective.
- How do you pronounce moss-grown?
- Moss-grown is pronounced /ˈmɒsɡɹəʊn/ (UK).
Words near moss-grown in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: moss-grown (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: “moss-grown.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/moss-grown. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.