mothballs

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“
It was nearly six months later that the judges dared to bring the case out of mothballs, arranging to have the whole case heard again.

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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)

  • My father bought it in "deadspace mothballs," as they say, just outside the orbit of The Singing, fifth planet of the star called Hallock. —  Omni: February 1994
  • Old Cora Gringott had smelled of mothballs, the widow Hawkins like the bitter almond snuff she was so fond of dipping. —  YoursUntilDawn
  • Stored away with love and just a hint of mothballs, they hang encased in a clear plastic garment bag from B. Altman's. The plastic's yellowing and the zipper balks—that cherished old department store is now a library, offering books instead of ballgowns—but the wings retain the whiteness of Zeus's own thunderbolt. —  FSF,October2005
  • The proposed Traveston Crossing Dam in south-east Queensland may be in mothballs, but taxpayers have already ... —  thedaily.com.au: Breaking News
  • Nite Owl (Patrick Wilson) has hung up his cowl and put his flying owl-ship in mothballs, but civilian life is boring him to distraction. —  Kansas City Star: Front Page
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This word has been looked up 27 times.

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