different between mooch vs moocha

English

Alternative forms

• mouch

Etymology

From Middle English moochen, mouchen (“to pretend poverty”), from Old French muchier, mucier, mucer (“to skulk, hide, conceal”), from Frankish *mukjan (“to hide, conceal oneself”), from Proto-Germanic *mukjan?, *m?k?n? (“to hide, ambush”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)m?g-, *(s)mewg?- (“swindler, thief”).

Cognate with Old High German m?hh?n (“to store, cache, plunder”), Middle High German muchen, mucken (“to hide, stash”), Middle English müchen, michen (“to rob, steal, pilfer”). More at mitch.

Alternate etymology derives mooch from Middle English mucchen (“to hoard, be stingy”, literally “to hide coins in one's nightcap”), from Middle English mucche (“nightcap”), from Middle Dutch mutse (“cap, nightcap”), from Medieval Latin almucia (“nightcap”), of unknown origin, possibly Arabic. More at mutch, amice.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mu?t?/

• Rhymes: -u?t?

Verb

mooch (third-person singular simple present mooches, present participle mooching, simple past and past participle mooched) (colloquial)

1. (Britain) To wander around aimlessly, often causing irritation to others.
2. To beg, cadge, or sponge; to exploit or take advantage of others for personal gain.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:scrounge
3. (transitive, chiefly Britain) To steal or filch.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:steal

Derived terms

• mooch off

Translations

Noun

mooch (plural mooches)

1. (Britain) An aimless stroll.

2. One who mooches; a moocher.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:scrounger

3. (US, slang) A unit of time comprising ten days, used to measure how long someone holds a job.

Translations

Anagrams

• chomo, choom

English

Etymology

From Zulu unmutsha.

Noun

moocha (plural moochas)

1. A loincloth made from animals' tails or strips of skin; part of the traditional dress of Zulu males.
   • 1885, H. Rider Haggard, King Solomon's Mines, Cassel and Company (1907), page 48:

     Umbopa did so, at the same time slipping off the long military great coat which he wore, and revealing himself naked except for the moocha round his centre and a necklace of lions' claws.

Anagrams

• moocah