mothball
/ˈmɔθˌbɔl/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.84 in modern English
15
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
2
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A small ball of chemical pesticide (originally camphor and now typically naphthalene or paradichlorobenzene) and deodorant placed in or around clothing and other articles to deter moth larvae which may damage them.
Example Sentences
- "There were two carloads of equipments. Upon their return to the armory the blankets were shook and repacked with mothballs; […]"
- "Me and Solly, as I now called him, prepared to shake off our moth-balls and wing our way against the arc-lights of the joyous and tuneful East."
- "The church interior was as comfortable as Sunday-morning toast and marmalade— […] gorgeous stained-glass windows, and a general polite creaking of ladies' best stays and gentlemen's stiff shirt-bosoms, and an odor of the best cologne and moth-balls."
- "Mr. President, I have supported the draft and shall do so as long as it is necessary. But I believe that when a draftee has served his 2 years and is released for normal civilian life, he should be free to place his uniform in mothballs until the Nation's safety requires his return to active duty."
- "They mothballed the old version after the new one came out."
- "There is already considerable spare primary capacity because the coal is accessible and merely needs the men and machines to get it. We are unaware, however, of the physical and economic possibilities of mothballing pits, or of the extent to which the present surplus capacity of 40 million tons would match the capacity of loss-making pits which one would like to close."
Etymology
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈmɔθˌbɔl/
- British English: /ˈmɒθbɔːl/
Usage
Inflected Forms
Derived Forms
Phrases
in mothballs