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# moan

«moan» in Mova's school dictionary: **To make a long low sound because of pain or sadness** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

verb (moan, moans, moaned, moaning); noun (a moan, moans)

### meaning for a pupil

1) To make a long low sound because of pain or sadness. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/moan/#m1)

2) (informal, especially UK, Australia) To complain in an annoying way about small things: Stop moaning about your homework! [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/moan/#m2)

3) Noun: a low sound of pain, or the wind's low sound. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/moan/#m3)

4) Noun (informal): a complaint: to have a moan. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/moan/#m4)

### sense in the lessons

In stories a moan tells you a character is hurt, sad or scared, or that the wind howls in a spooky house. In everyday UK talk «Stop moaning» means «Stop complaining». A «moaner» or «whinger» complains a lot.

### examples

- The injured player moaned in pain. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/moan/#x1)
- The wind moaned through the trees. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/moan/#x2)
- Stop moaning — it's only one page of homework! [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/moan/#x3)
- Dad likes a good moan about the traffic. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/moan/#x4)
- We heard a low moan from the cellar. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/moan/#x5)
- She moaned that the bus was late again. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/moan/#x6)
- My brother moans whenever it's his turn to wash up. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/moan/#x7)

### note

Homophone: mown (cut grass). Close words: groan (similar sound), whine, whinge (UK/Australia), complain. «Moan» about complaining is informal.

### In the corpora

- [«You're no fun,» he moaned.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/388-how-to-say-stop/7/)
- [A friend can be fun and still have faults, like swearing or moaning; you don't have to copy their faults.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/482-mums-best-friend-and-dads-mate-from-work/30/)
- [«Bare long,» moans Ibby (London slang: a massive pain).](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/508-fighting-ignoring-each-other-and-sharing-a-room/19/)
- [«It's like prison, man,» Jordan-Lee moans at school.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/520-living-in-a-childrens-home/6/)
- [Ancient people moaned like us too.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/history/63-writing-laws-and-money-how-strangers-learned-to-trust-each-other/10/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «moan» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/moan/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.