"moth-er" meaning in English

{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "moth",
        "3": "-er",
        "id2": "agent noun",
        "pos2": "agent noun suffix"
      },
      "expansion": "moth + -er (agent noun suffix)",
      "name": "af"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "",
        "3": "er",
        "id2": "occupation",
        "pos2": "occupational suffix"
      },
      "expansion": "+ -er (occupational suffix)",
      "name": "suf"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Coined from moth + -er (agent noun suffix) or + -er (occupational suffix) by analogy to mouser, with the hyphen kept to avoid confusion with mother (“female parent”).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "moth-ers",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "head": "moth-er"
      },
      "expansion": "moth-er (plural moth-ers)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English terms suffixed with -er (agent noun)",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English terms suffixed with -er (occupation)",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1997 May, Backpacker, volume 25, number 4, page 30:",
          "text": "Modern moth-ers use black lights, mercury vapor lamps, and portable generators to saturate the night sky[.]",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1997, Joshua M. Epstein, Nonlinear Dynamics, Mathematical Biology, and Social Science:",
          "text": "Many species of bats are skilled ‘moth-ers’: they pursue them at speed after detecting them[.]",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2015, Tessa Wardley, The Countryside Book: 101 Ways To Play, Watch Wildlife, ...:",
          "text": "Real moth-ers, mothies or lepidopterists, will use a mercury vapour bulb and even a special trap[.]",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A person (especially an entomologist) or animal that catches moths."
      ],
      "id": "en-moth-er-en-noun-TanMLZFa",
      "links": [
        [
          "entomologist",
          "entomologist"
        ],
        [
          "moth",
          "moth"
        ]
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "mother"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈmɒðə/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈmɒθə/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈmɔðɚ/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈmɔθɚ/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈmɑðɚ/",
      "tags": [
        "cot-caught-merger"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈmɑθɚ/",
      "tags": [
        "cot-caught-merger"
      ]
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɒðə(ɹ)"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɒθə(ɹ)"
    },
    {
      "other": "/ð/"
    },
    {
      "other": "/θ/"
    },
    {
      "other": "/z/"
    },
    {
      "other": "/s/"
    }
  ],
  "word": "moth-er"
}

{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "moth",
        "3": "-er",
        "id2": "agent noun",
        "pos2": "agent noun suffix"
      },
      "expansion": "moth + -er (agent noun suffix)",
      "name": "af"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "",
        "3": "er",
        "id2": "occupation",
        "pos2": "occupational suffix"
      },
      "expansion": "+ -er (occupational suffix)",
      "name": "suf"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Coined from moth + -er (agent noun suffix) or + -er (occupational suffix) by analogy to mouser, with the hyphen kept to avoid confusion with mother (“female parent”).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "moth-ers",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "head": "moth-er"
      },
      "expansion": "moth-er (plural moth-ers)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English countable nouns",
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English nouns",
        "English terms suffixed with -er (agent noun)",
        "English terms suffixed with -er (occupation)",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "Pages with 1 entry",
        "Pages with entries",
        "Quotation templates to be cleaned",
        "Rhymes:English/ɒðə(ɹ)",
        "Rhymes:English/ɒðə(ɹ)/2 syllables",
        "Rhymes:English/ɒθə(ɹ)"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1997 May, Backpacker, volume 25, number 4, page 30:",
          "text": "Modern moth-ers use black lights, mercury vapor lamps, and portable generators to saturate the night sky[.]",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1997, Joshua M. Epstein, Nonlinear Dynamics, Mathematical Biology, and Social Science:",
          "text": "Many species of bats are skilled ‘moth-ers’: they pursue them at speed after detecting them[.]",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2015, Tessa Wardley, The Countryside Book: 101 Ways To Play, Watch Wildlife, ...:",
          "text": "Real moth-ers, mothies or lepidopterists, will use a mercury vapour bulb and even a special trap[.]",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A person (especially an entomologist) or animal that catches moths."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "entomologist",
          "entomologist"
        ],
        [
          "moth",
          "moth"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈmɒðə/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈmɒθə/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈmɔðɚ/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈmɔθɚ/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈmɑðɚ/",
      "tags": [
        "cot-caught-merger"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈmɑθɚ/",
      "tags": [
        "cot-caught-merger"
      ]
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɒðə(ɹ)"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɒθə(ɹ)"
    },
    {
      "other": "/ð/"
    },
    {
      "other": "/θ/"
    },
    {
      "other": "/z/"
    },
    {
      "other": "/s/"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "mother"
    }
  ],
  "word": "moth-er"
}