moat

Noun

Synonyms: fosse

WordNet 3.0

Noun (1)

ditch dug as a fortification and usually filled with waterSynonyms: fosse

Webster's Dictionary (GCIDE)

Moat \Moat\, n. [OF. mote hill, dike, bank, F. motte clod, turf: cf. Sp. & Pg. mota bank or mound of earth, It. motta clod, LL. mota, motta, a hill on which a fort is built, an eminence, a dike, Prov. G. mott bog earth heaped up; or perh. F. motte, and OF. mote, are from a LL. p. p. of L. movere to move (see Move). The name of moat, properly meaning, bank or mound, was transferred to the ditch adjoining: cf. F. dike and ditch.] (Fort.) A deep trench around the rampart of a castle or other fortified place, sometimes filled with water; a ditch. [1913 Webster]

Moat \Moat\, v. t. To surround with a moat. --Dryden. [1913 Webster]

Ditch \Ditch\ (?; 224), n.; pl. Ditches. [OE. dich, orig. the same word as dik. See Dike.]

1.A trench made in the earth by digging, particularly a trench for draining wet land, for guarding or fencing inclosures, or for preventing an approach to a town or fortress. In the latter sense, it is called also a moat or a fosse. [1913 Webster]

2.Any long, narrow receptacle for water on the surface of the earth. [1913 Webster]