mothball

Syllables: moth·ball/ˈmɒθbɔːl//ˈmɔθˌbɔl/

mothball 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.

Image: Wiki Farazi, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

mothball (plural mothballs)

(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 […]...
- 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.1907, O. Henry [pseudonym; William Sydney Porter], “Seats of the Haughty”, in Heart of the West, New York, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company for Review of Reviews Co., →OCLC, page 82

Verb

mothball (third-person singular simple present mothballs, present participle mothballing, simple past and past participle mothballed)

(transitive) To store (clothing, etc.) with mothballs (noun sense 1).
(figuratively, transitive, chiefly passive voice) To stop using (something), and often to put it in storage; specifically, while keeping it in good condition so it can be used in the future.
- 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...1965 October 16, “News and Views: Energy Forecasts for Britain”, in Nature: A Weekly Journal of Science, volume 208, number 5007, London: Macmillan (Journals); New York, N.Y.: St. Martin’s Press...
Antonyms:

demothball, unmothball
(figuratively, transitive, chiefly passive voice) To stop work on (a plan, project, etc.) for the time being; to postpone, to shelve.
- The fact that the START Treaty has just been signed is reason enough not to build one rail garrison train before mothballing the project.1991 September 26, [Carl] Levin, “Department of Defense Appropriations Act, Fiscal Year 1992”, in Congressional Record: Proceedings and Debates of the 102d Congress, First Session (United States...
Synonyms:

defer, set aside

mothball meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Kannada and Thai

mothball in Tamil

small ball of chemical pesticide to deter moth larvae: அந்துருண்டை anturuṇṭai

mothball in Urdu

کافوری گولی

mothball in Kannada

ನುಸಿಗುಳಿಗೆ

mothball in Thai

small ball of chemical pesticide to deter moth larvae: ลูกเหม็น lûuk-měn

More languagesFewer languages

mothball in Vietnamese: băng phiến, long não

Examples of mothball in a sentence

Years later, he [Walter Simonson] characterized the company's behavior as "abrupt, rude, and disrespectful," and railed against the mothballing of veteran creators.2012, Sean Howe, chapter 16, in Marvel Comics: The Untold Story, New York, N.Y.: Harper, →ISBN:
Just check they get plenty of use and aren't mothballed while the school concentrates on (you guessed it) maths and literacy.2014 September 23, a teacher [pseudonym], “Choosing a primary school: a teacher’s guide for parents”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The...
In the short term NR [National Rail] could well mothball the line given its lack of traffic.2021 March 10, Paul Shannon, “Freight’s New Gateways Score Highly on Location and Layout”, in Rail, number 926, Peterborough...
In 2011, NASA mothballed the last space shuttle, after inking a deal with SpaceX to make uncrewed cargo resupply runs to the International Space Station (ISS).2021 December 13, Molly Ball, Jeffrey Kluger, Alejandro de la Garza, “Elon Musk: Person of the Year 2021”, in Time, New York, N.Y.: Time...

Synonyms of mothball

Antonyms

Forms of mothball

Noun
plural	mothballs
alternative form	moth-ball
alternative form	moth ball
Verb
third-person singular present	mothballs
present participle	mothballing
past participle	mothballed
past	mothballed

Origin of mothball

The noun is derived from moth + ball. The verb is derived from the noun.

Words formed from mothball

Questions about mothball

What does mothball mean?: Mothball means 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.
What is mothball in Tamil?: Mothball in Tamil is அந்துருண்டை (anturuṇṭai). See Mothball meaning in Tamil.
How do you use mothball in a sentence?: Years later, he [Walter Simonson] characterized the company's behavior as "abrupt, rude, and disrespectful," and railed against the mothballing of veteran creators.
What part of speech is mothball?: Mothball can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce mothball?: Mothball is pronounced /ˈmɒθbɔːl/ (UK).
What is the plural of mothball?: The plural of mothball is mothballs.

Words near mothball in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: mothball (page history and authors); mothball (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); mothball (Kannada Wiktionary) (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.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-mothball.wav, LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-mothball.wav.

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