moat is the same as pit, one deep excavation for the purpose of delimiting a separation between two spaces or for storage and disposal of something, such as water (water ditch), air (breathing ditch), among other solid or liquid waste, for example.
Traditionally, ditches were used as part of the military architecture, built from a huge excavation made around castles, fortresses or entire cities, with the purpose of making difficult the access of unwanted people and probable invaders. Thus, the moat was seen as an instrument to defend the fortification.
You castle moats they could be filled with water or with wooden stakes, but they could also be empty, trapping inside all people who tried to enter the fortifications without permission.
Some people confuse the correct spelling of the word moat with “focus”, the latter being non-existent in the vocabulary of the Portuguese language.
Among some of the main synonyms for ditch they are: dig, lev, ditch and ditch.
In a figurative sense, the word ditch can also represent the
great metaphorical distance between two things or even the obvious inequality between two distinct parts.Example:"After the divorce, a rift was formed between the two" or "The social gap we have witnessed in the country was carved out over the years of poor government management".
See also: the meaning of septic tank.