mosh, v.³ — Green’s Dictionary of Slang

mosh v.³

to dance in a violent and aggressive manner, jumping up and down, crashing into other dancers, waving one’s arms etc; thus moshing n., the dance style.

1987		New Musical Express 21 Mar. n.p.: The [...] still-incredible spectacle of the hard-core fanatics thrashing, dive-bombing off the stage , writhing (‘moshing’) in an uninhibited physical mania.
1989		Palm Beach Post (FL) 21 May 142/3: Here, they prepare to slam into a ‘head-banger’ who is a fan of heavy metal music. The skinheads call this slam-dancing or moshing.
1998		J. O’Connor Salesman 171: He tottered over to the dance floor and started leaping about – ‘pogoing’, I believe you told me it was called, or ‘moshing’.
1999		Guardian G2 30 Sept. 3: A boy in a striped, v-neck T-shirt is moshing on his own to Play That Funky Music White Boy.
2001		(con. 1975–6) E. Little Steel Toes 143: Now it’s called moshing, once it was slam dancing, and that may have evolved from pogoing.
2001		C. McPherson Port Authority 7: A couple of drunk crusties started moshing around.
2002		S. Maloney Something Fishy (2006) 123: Red was moshing it up with Jodie Prentice.

In compounds

mosh pit (n.)

1. the area in a club or rock arena where moshing takes place, also attrib.

1995		Hartford Courant (CT) Sound Check 21 Spt. 3/1: Mosh pits at the Hartford Civic Center? [...] For the David Bowie [...] tour last week, the first seven rows of reserved seats were removed [...] for a pit accomodating about 750 moshers.
1999		Indep. Rev. 10 June 11: Enduring the drunken swell of the downstairs moshpit.
2000		Eminem ‘Bitch please II’ 🎵 Throw on ‘Guilty Conscience’ at concerts / and watch mosh pits til motherfuckers knock each other unconcious.
2002		Honolulu Star Bulletin (HI) 31 May D6/4: The throttling moshpit anthem ‘Higher’.
2009		Observer Rev. 26 Apr. 17/3: A maelstrom of sweat and beer [...] made the roiling mosh-pit outside look like Courtesy Day at Glyndebourne.
2016		Guardian Guide 21 May 10/3: Stormzy’s gigs can also feel like punk shows, complete with suburban boys in mosh pits.

2. in fig. use, an undifferentiated mess.

2009

P. Temple Truth 65: No division of labour any more. Drugs, whores, robbers, it’s all one fucking moshpit.

mosh v.3

In compounds

mosh v.³