Meanings
plural mooncussers
- historicalhumorousuncommonA land-based pirate who, on dark nights along dangerous coasts, would demolish any legitimate lighthouses or beacons, erect a decoy signal fire in a different, deliberately misleading location, and then, after having induced a shipwreck, subdue any survivors and plunder the wreckage for valuables.
Synonyms: wrecker
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA land-based pirate who, on dark nights along dangerous coasts, would demolish any legitimate lighthouses or beacons, erect a decoy signal fire in a different, deliberately misleading location, and then, after having induced a shipwreck, subdue any survivors and plunder the wreckage for valuables.
Origin
From moon + cusser: the strategy would not work on a moonlit night, so the would-be pirate might be expected to curse the Moon.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
mooncusser. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mooncusser
“mooncusser.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mooncusser. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “mooncusser,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mooncusser.
Source: mooncusser on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.