Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A marble-sized ball, originally of camphor but now of naphthalene, stored with clothes to repel moths.
  • noun A condition of long storage for possible future use.
  • noun A condition of being set aside or discarded.
  • transitive verb To remove (a ship, for example) from active service or use and put into protective storage.
  • transitive verb To defer indefinitely; shelve.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb To put into long-term storage.
  • noun A small sphere of camphor or naphthalene used to keep moths away from stored clothing.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun a small ball of chemical pesticide and deodorant placed in or around clothing and other articles susceptible to damage from mold or moth larvae in order to protect them from this damage; mothballs have either naphthalene or paradichlorobenzene as their active ingredient.
  • verb transitive to store or shelve (something that is no longer used)

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb put into long-term storage
  • noun a small sphere of camphor or naphthalene used to keep moths away from stored clothing

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

moth +‎ ball

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Examples

  • "The so-called mothball option is not leadership - I think it kicks the can down the road," he said.

    Columnist: Stephen Miller 2010

  • Tesco said Tuesday that in November it would "mothball" 13 stores in those areas — six in Nevada, six in Arizona, and one in inland California — by boarding them up or subletting them, with a plan to reopen them in four to five years once the economy there recovers.

    Tesco Signals Plan to Bolster U.S. Business Paul Sonne 2010

  • I would caveat my comment on Savage 99 value by stating that if it is in very good condition or like new, I would definitely "mothball" it for the value aspect.

    good rifle 2009

  • I would caveat my comment on Savage 99 value by stating that if it is in very good condition or like new, I would definitely "mothball" it for the value aspect.

    good rifle 2009

  • From a system of around 125 parks, that would have put about a third into "mothball," or low maintenance state, greatly reducing the number of places that Washingtonians could go to escape the stress of the world of people and to capture the peace of the world of nature.

    State Parks spared from budget axe 2009

  • The company said it plans to "mothball" 13 Fresh & Easy stores - six in Nevada, six in

    ABC News: Top Stories 2010

  • St Germans 'mothball' fears over dwindling followers

    WN.com - Business News 2010

  • The company said it plans to "mothball" 13 Fresh & Easy stores - six in Nevada, six in

    Yahoo! News: Business - Opinion 2010

  • There's now speculation that Sitt's intention may be to "mothball" the boardwalk until the city meets his demands.

    DCist 2009

  • Also in Asia the company has also been affected by falling xylitol sales; this prompted the decision to 'mothball' its production site in China.

    DairyReporter RSS 2009

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