mouldwarp

English

Alternative forms

• moldwarp, molewarp
• moldiwarp
• moudiwarp

Etymology

From Middle English moldwarp, moldewarp, moldewerp, (also molwarpe, molewarpe), from Old English *moldeweorpe, ("mole"; literally "earth-thrower"; compare Old English wandeweorpe (“mole”)), from Proto-Germanic *muldawurpiz (“earth-thrower, mole”), equivalent to mould +‎ warp. Cognate with Scots malwart, modewarp (“mole”), Dutch molworp (“mole”), Low German mulworp, molworm (“mole”), German Maulwurf (“mole”), Danish muldvarp (“mole”), Swedish mullvad (“mole”), Icelandic moldvarpa (“mole”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /ˈməʊldwɔːp/

Noun

mouldwarp (plural mouldwarps)

1. (now regional) A mole, Talpa europea.
   • 1621, Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy, II.3.1.i:

     as the moldiwarp in Æsop told the fox [...], you complain of toys, but I am blind, be quiet [...].

   • 1913, DH Lawrence, Sons and Lovers, Penguin 2006, p. 19:

     "Yi, an' there's some chaps as does go round like moudiwarps." He thrust his face forward in the blind, snout-like way of a mole, seeming to sniff and peer for direction.

Translations

a mole

• Russian: крот (ru) (krot) m