name, noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   Initialism of monoamine oxidase. abbreviation, alt-of, initialism
2. 2
   The ma'oma'o, Gymnomyza samoensis, a large passerine bird native to Samoa.
3. 3
   A fairy chess piece which moves identically to the xiangqi horse, moving one square orthogonally and then one square diagonally at a 135 degree angle. Similar to the chess knight, but has more limited movement as its movement can be obstructed by an intervening piece.
4. 4
   an enzyme that catalyzes the oxidation of many body compounds (e.g., epinephrine and norepinephrine and serotonin) wordnet

Proper Noun

1. 1
   A common surname from Chinese, from Mandarin, usually referring to Mao Zedong.

   "As the revered Mao has said, 'There cannot be two suns in the same sky.'"

2. 2
   A Sino-Tibetan language.
3. 3
   A branch of the Omotic languages spoken in Ethiopia.
4. 4
   A card game, named after Mao Zedong, in which players attempt to shed all their cards without violating certain unspoken rules.

Synonyms

All synonyms

emelalabretlabretmao tsetungmonoamine oxidasemonoamine oxidase

Example

More examples

"My cat won't shut up about Mao."

Etymology

From Mandarin 毛 (Máo).

Related phrases

Madame MaoMao Zedong Thoughtgymnomyza samoensisma oma o

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.