▪ I. mosey, n. colloq. (orig. U.S.).
Brit. /ˈməʊzi/, U.S. /ˈmoʊzi/
[‹ mosey v.]
A walk at a leisurely pace; a stroll.
| 1960 Sat. Evening Post 24 Dec. 81/1 Take a mosey around the place. 1979 Washington Post 24 June e1/4 ‘Gait’..can take many forms—from the mosey through the 3 mph most of us use, and the 4 mph traditionally used by the military, to the 8 mph of the race walkers—faster than most joggers run. 1991 Calgary Herald (Nexis) 8 July d1 A mosey over to the infield finds Kevin Mulvey loping along on a forklift. 2003 Ayr (Austral.) Advocate (Nexis) 17 Jan. 10, I usually go out and have a mosey around. |
▪ II. mosey, v. slang (orig. U.S.).
(ˈməʊzɪ)
intr. To go away quickly; to decamp. Also, to make haste, ‘be lively’; to jog along (lit. and fig.).
| 18.. New York Tribune (Bartlett 1877), I'll get a room nicely furnished, and my wife and I will jes mosey along till the election trouble is over, an' den dere'll be a powerful sight of whitewashin' to be done. 1829 Virginia Lit. Museum 30 Dec. 459 Mosey, to move off. 1836 Public Ledger (Philadelphia) 2 Dec. (Th.), You'r not going to smoke me. So mosey off. 1838 J. C. Neal Charcoal Sk. i. (1850) 17 If your tongue wasn't so thick I'd say you must mosey; but moseying is only to be done when a gemman's half shot. a 1859 N.Y. Family Companion (Bartlett), After you left me, when them fellows told you to mosey off before the boat went to sea. 1871 J. Hay Banty Tim 7 The nigger has got to mosey From the limits o' Spunky P'int! 1885 Miss M. N. Murfree Prophet Gt. Smoky Mts. xiii. 233 Hurry 'long, D'rindy,..you-uns ain't goin' ter reel a hank ef ye don't mosey. 1870 ‘Mark Twain’ Curious Republic Gondour (1919) 57, I hain't got time to be palavering along here—got to..mosey along. 1874 ― in Atlantic Monthly Nov. 592/2 De way dey made dem sojers mosey roun'! 1891 Kipling Naulahka vi, I'll mosey along somehow. 1901 ‘H. McHugh’ John Henry 42 Abie had moseyed away. 1902 W. N. Harben Abner Daniel 59 Now I must mosey on down-stairs. 1903 A. Adams Log Cowboy ix. 124 You fellows just mosey along up the trail. 1918 Punch 27 Mar. 206/1 Her funnel's caked with Cape Horn ice and blistered in the sun, She's moseyed round above a bit, and, poor old ship, she's done. 1961 C. McCullers Clock without Hands v. 111 While Mr Malone made up the Coca-Cola, Jester moseyed over to the scales and stood on them. 1966 T. Pynchon Crying of Lot 49 v. 110 She was moseying along a street..when she collided with a gang of guided tourists. 1973 Daily Tel. (Colour Suppl.) 16 Mar. 22/3 Map in hand he moseys round the alleys and yards of Southwark. 1974 Black World June 70/2, I had moseyed over to see what they were yakking about. 1974 D. Ramsay No Cause to Kill ii. 134, I thought I'd mosey on over to the liquor store. |
▪ III. mosey
var. mosy a. dial.