mothball

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(We have existing characters that we can un-mothball, and I'm sure we will do so for old time's sake, but we're also looking to start fresh ones.)

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Definitions (9)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (5)

  1. noun A marble-sized ball, originally of camphor but now of naphthalene, stored with clothes to repel moths.
  2. noun A condition of long storage for possible future use: put the battleship into mothballs.
  3. noun A condition of being set aside or discarded: have put the plan into mothballs.
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Examples (50)

  • Can you imagine going to your closet, pulling out a mothball and chewing on it if you're feeling depressed? —  Sherwin Nuland on electroshock therapy
  • I have no recollections of time spent in basements or attics or around old people or old clothing that trigger that mothball-y smell.
  • Looking up what might be wrong with mothball-smelling clothes engendered the same kind of fear I'd have looking up horrible medical symptoms on WebMD.
  • She and her sister ship, the Colleton, were World War II-vintage LSTs from the inactive ("mothball") fleet that had undergone major conversions at Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, where each received a coat of jungle-green paint, a helicopter platform, an air-conditioned interior, and an upgrading in equipment and facilities, including the installation of a Tactical Operations Center with extensive communications capability. —  Brown Waters, Black Berets
  • 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
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