mooted

1. 1
   verb

   Simple past and past participle of moot.

   A merger between the two airlines was first mooted last spring.

   The court found that the new policy had mooted the lawsuit, leaving nothing to decide.

   Note

   Two nearly opposite uses share this form. Meaning raised for debate, it often comes in the passive: a merger was mooted last spring, the idea has been mooted before. In American usage it can instead close a question, as when a new policy mooted the lawsuit and left nothing to decide; the adjective carries that second meaning. In Scotland and Northern England, mooted can also mean said or hinted.

2. 2
   adjective

   Made, or shown to be, moot: no longer of practical importance, so not worth deciding.

   The court declined to rule on the mooted claims after the company changed its policy.

   Because the city repealed the ordinance, the challenge to it was mooted before it ever reached trial.

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