Word.ws English Dictionary

moth-ball

moth-ball is the alternative form of mothball.

Meaning of mothball

Noun

mothball (plural mothballs)

  1. (in plural) 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.
    • There were two carloads of equipments. Upon their return to the armory the blankets were shook and repacked with mothballs; […]1904, E. P. Burlingame, “Financial Statement to Accompany the Report of the Adjutant General”, in Annual Report of the Adjutant General of Oklahoma: for the Year Ending December 31, 1904 […]...

See all 4 meanings of mothball

Forms of moth-ball

pluralmoth-balls

Questions about moth-ball

What is moth-ball the alternative form of?
Moth-ball is the alternative form of mothball.

Words near moth-ball in the dictionary

  1. moth lacewing
  2. moth lacewings
  3. moth mullein
  4. moth orchid
  5. moth orchids
  6. moth-ball
  7. moth-balls
  8. moth-eaten
  9. moth-er
  10. moth-ers
  11. moth-hunter

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: moth-ball (page history and authors); mothball (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “moth-ball.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/moth-ball. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.