Wiktionary:Word of the day/2024/July 21

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man in the moon proper n

An image of a man perceived in the dark maria (plains or "seas") and light highlands or other features of the Moon, originally regarded as a man with a burden on his back or accompanied by a small dog, and now more commonly as a man's face in the full moon or his profile in a crescent moon; hence, an imaginary man thought to be living on the Moon. (obsolete, figurative) An imaginary person; also (UK politics, slang), an unidentified person who illegally pays for election expenditure and electors' expenses, as long as the latter vote as the person wishes. The American astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first person to step on to the Moon’s surface during the Apollo 11 mission on this day 55 years ago in 1969 at 02:56 UTC.

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