moonlight
- 01 A2 Elementary
n.the light that you see at night which comes from the moon.
n.the light reflected from the moon's surface, appearing to emanate from it during the night.
Simple“We took a long walk along the beach by the glow of the moonlight.”
In context“The silver moonlight cast long, distorted shadows across the valley, making the familiar landscape appear eerie and unrecognizable.”
- 02 B2 Upper Intermediate
v.to have a second job that you do secretly, usually in the evening or at night.
v.to hold a secondary job in addition to one's primary employment, often performed at night and sometimes without paying tax.
Simple“He is a teacher during the day, but he moonlights as a taxi driver at night.”
In context“Several staff members were found to be moonlighting as freelance consultants for the firm's direct competitors, leading to a strict review of their contracts.”
UsageThe verb is intransitive and often followed by 'as' to describe the second role.
Synonymsside hustle - 03 C2 Proficiency
n.leaving a house or apartment secretly at night to avoid paying the rent you owe.
n.an act of secretly vacating a property at night to evade rent or other debts; primarily used in the phrase 'do a moonlight'.
Simple“The neighbors did a moonlight because they couldn't afford the high rent anymore.”
In context“The landlord arrived on Monday morning only to discover that the tenants had done a moonlight over the weekend, leaving the flat entirely empty.”
Teacher's tipThis sense is mostly found in British English and is becoming less common in modern speech.
Synonyms
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *meh₁-? Proto-Indo-European *mḗh₁n̥s Proto-Germanic *mēnô Proto-West Germanic *mānō Old English mōna Middle English mone Proto-Indo-European *lewk-der. Proto-Germanic *leuhtaz Proto-West Germanic *leuht Old English lēoht Middle English light Middle English moonelight English moonlight The noun is derived from Middle English moonelight, monelight, mone lyght (“light of the moon; (heraldry) pattern of moons on the field of a heraldic banner”), from mon, mone (“moon”) (from Old English mōna (“moon”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European mḗh₁n̥s (“moon; month”)) + light (“light”) (from Old English lēoht (“light”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European lewk- (“bright; to see; to shine”)). By surface analysis, moon + light. The verb is derived from the noun. Verb sense 1.1 (“to secretly leave premises without paying the rent”) is a back-formation from moonlight flit, while verb sense 1.2 (“to make a night-time attack on a tenant farmer”) is probably a back-formation from moonlighter. cognates * Dutch maanlicht * German Mondlicht * Scots muinlicht, munelicht * West Frisian moanneljocht
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.