ask for the moon
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
To ask for something that is completely impossible to get
Literally: request the moon
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
She could have asked for the moon, and seen the clansmen climb on each other's shoulders to reach it down for her.
My Mother wasn't insured and the funeral director's bill of £150 was a shock (he might as well have asked for the moon).
British National Corpus sentence via the MAGPIE corpus (CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-30; pending editor spot-check.
Equivalents & related
Common questions
What does “ask for the moon” mean?
To ask for something that is completely impossible to get Literally: request the moon
Is “ask for the moon” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.
What is the closest equivalent?
“mò trăng đáy nước” (Tiếng Việt) — near equivalent.