mooring

1. gerundparticiplepresentpresent participle and gerund of moor

plural moorings

1. A place to moor a vessel.

   On the Lincolnshire side of the Humber, the Pier Station at New Holland was put out of action when the ferry boat plying to and from Hull broke loose from its moorings.

   1953 May, “British Railways and the January Floods”, in Railway Magazine, page 301

   2 more examples

   Then did the comet break loose from his moorings and the eclipse roamed about the sky, and down on the earth did Death’s three children—Famine, Pestilence, and Drought—come out to feed.

   1906, Lord Dunsany [i.e., Edward Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany], Time and the Gods, London: William Heineman, →OCLC, page 31

   On the opposite wall, the R101 tragedy is recalled by the airship's tattered ensign in a glass case, a plaque from the Royal Airship Works and a photograph of the dirigible at her moorings.

   1980, AA Book of British Villages, Drive Publications Ltd, page 101

2. The act of securing a vessel with a cable or anchor etc.
3. figurativelySomething to which one adheres, or the means that helps one to maintain a stable position and keep one's identity - moral, intellectual, political, etc.

   1898, Coates, Florence Earle, song: "Friendship from its Moorings Strays" Friendship from its moorings strays, Love binds fast together; Friendship is for balmy days, Love for stormy weather.

   1 more example

   1890, John George Nicolay and John Hay, Abraham Lincoln: A History The party of pro-slavery reaction was for the moment in the ascendant; and as by an irresistible impulse, the Supreme Court of the United States was swept from its hitherto impartial judicial moorings into the dangerous seas of polities.

plural Moorings

1. A mainland dialect of the North Frisian language

   Synonyms: Mooring dialect

plural Moorings

1. A surname.