A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that surrounds a castle, other building or town, historically a sewage passage for the castle waste, which caused great disease. In some places moats evolved into more extensive water defences, including natural or artificial lakes, dams and sluices. In later periods the moat or water defences may be largely ornamental.
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Famous quotes containing the word moat:
“This happy breed of men, this little world,
This precious stone set in the silver sea,
Which serves it in the office of a wall,
Or as a moat defensive to a house,
Against the envy of less happier lands,
This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“Our moat around us is no more a moat,
Our continent no more a moated castle.”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)