moose

noun

ˈmüs 

plural moose

1

: a ruminant mammal (Alces alces) with humped shoulders, long legs, and broadly palmated antlers that is the largest existing member of the deer family and inhabits forested areas of Canada, the northern U.S., Europe, and Asia

2

capitalized [Loyal Order of Moose] : a member of a major benevolent and fraternal order

Illustration of moose

• moose 1

Examples of moose in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

First time in a land home to gray wolves, bear, mountain lion, lynx, coyote, elk, moose. —Chris Colin, AFAR Media, 31 Jan. 2025

Trans Canada Image On his list of favorite Dispatches of 2024, Bryant Rousseau, an editor on the International desk, picked two from Canada about how motorists are menaced by moose in Newfoundland and by car thieves in Toronto. —Ian Austen, New York Times, 4 Jan. 2025

Four months later, his decomposing body was found by a moose hunter. —Lizz Schumer, People.com, 28 Dec. 2024

This disease is a deadly neurological malady that can spread among deer, elk, and moose populations though contact with saliva, blood, urine, or feces. —Anne Readel, Better Homes & Gardens, 14 Dec. 2024

Word History

Etymology

of Algonquian origin; akin to Massachusett moos moose

First Known Use

1603, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

moose

noun

ˈmüs 

plural moose

: a large cud-chewing mammal with broad flattened antlers and humped shoulders that is related to the deer and lives in forests of Canada, the northern U.S., Europe, and Asia

Geographical Definition

Moose

geographical name

ˈmüs 

river 50 miles (80 kilometers) long in northeastern Ontario, Canada, flowing northeast into James Bay

Note: The Moose River is actually an estuary of the Abitibi, Mattagami, and other rivers.