half-moonv.
/ˌhɑːfˈmuːn/, U.S. /ˈhæfˌmun/, /ˌhæfˈmun/ 1. transitive. To form a crescent shape or arc around (something); to encircle or surround on one side.
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1791 A. Seward Let. 30 July (1811) III. 95 A pretty little lawn, half-mooned by the house and shrubberies.
1920 I. S. Cobb From Place to Place vii. 303 A two-room house..with a little village about it, a jungle behind it, a river half-mooning it and a lagoon before it.
1977 L. Murray Ethnic Radio 14 The creek half-moons it.
2. intransitive. To form a crescent shape or arc; to move or assemble in a crescent-shaped formation.With quot. 1943, cf. half-mooning n.
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1933 Fur-Fish-Game Feb. 9/3 We..paddled up the river that half-mooned toward the northeast.
1943 Country Life 8 Oct. 645/2 All you need to do..is to keep in line, half-mooning possibly a trifle, in order to push coveys..into heavy cover further on.
2001 Philadelphia Inquirer (Nexis) 3 Apr. b1 The police drew their weapons and sort of half-mooned around him. Then I heard a bang.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2022).
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