I. ˈmȯs also ˈmäs noun
( -es )
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: Middle English mos, moss, from Old English mōs; akin to Old English mēos moss, Old High German mos moss, swamp, mios moss, Old Norse mosi moss, swamp, Latin mundus clean, neat, muscus moss, Greek myzein to suck, mydan to be damp, Sanskrit mūtra urine, mudira cloud; basic meaning: wet
1.
a. dialect chiefly Britain : bog , morass , swamp ; especially : peat bog — often used in plural with the
the mosses of the English-Scottish border
b. : spongy soil
the moss came nearly to the knee — R.L.Stevenson
2.
a. : a plant of the class Musci
b. : a mat, clump, or sward made up of moss plants
3. : any of various plants more or less like moss in appearance or habit of growth — often used in combination
4. : a mossy outgrowth or covering (as on the moss rose)
5. : a fracture or other imperfection (as in a gemstone) having the appearance of moss ; specifically : such a fracture in an emerald
6. : old moss
II. verb
( -ed/-ing/-es )
Etymology: Middle English mosen, mossen, from mos, moss, n.
transitive verb
: to cover, overgrow, or fill in with moss
an oak whose boughs were mossed with age — Shakespeare
frames were mossed in the baggage cars en route — Florists Exchange
specifically : to cover (the stems of a cinchona tree) with a layer of moss to increase the yield of alkaloids
intransitive verb
: to gather moss