smuggler's moon

English

Etymology

So named because a smuggler at nighttime can pass by undetected or unnoticed due to the dim light.

Noun

smuggler's moon

1. (astronomy) A moon that emits only dim light.
   • 1979, Albert Goldman, Grass Roots: Marijuana in America Today, page 184:

     On this hot, humid night, the moon, a smuggler's moon, rose like a giant orange ball from the swamp.

   • 1982, The Himalayan Journal - Volume 38, page 67:

     The mountain was lit by a smuggler's moon by 10 p.m. and it was easier now to walk down.

   • 1991, Christina Skye, The Black Rose, page 15:

     A smuggler's moon, so they called it here on the Romney Marsh, where the southern shore of England teased the coast of France. Enough light to make it easy to slip over the sand with uncustomed tea and brandy, but too little to give His Majesty's riding officers a clear shot at one's back.

2. (astronomy) Synonym of dark moon
   • 1994, Jill Barnett, Dreaming, page 12:

     It was that one time of the month when the moon turned coward and its back was all one could see. A smuggler's moon.

   • 1994, Sibylle Garrett, Knight's Corner, page 162:

     Above him, a thin cloud moved across the bright sliver of the moon. A smuggler's moon.

   • 1996, Gard news, page 28:

     On Wednesday evening (26th) the five bars and pubs on St Mary's were almost empty as regulars made the most of a smuggler's moon to return to the wreck in darkness to see what they could find.

   • 2001, Cassie Miles, Undercover Protector, page 233:

     "It's so dark," she said. "I can only see a few stars." "A smuggler's moon."