mothball

See also: moth-ball and moth ball

English

Mothballs

Alternative forms

• moth ball
• moth-ball

Etymology

moth +‎ ball

Noun

mothball (plural mothballs)

1. (usually in the plural) A small ball of chemical pesticide (typically naphthalene) 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.

Derived terms

• in mothballs (“kept in good condition for later use”)
• mothbally

Translations

small ball

• Cebuano: naptalina
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 衛生球／卫生球 (wai⁶ sang¹ kau⁴), 樟腦丸／樟脑丸 (zoeng¹ nou⁵ jyun^4-2)

  Mandarin: 衛生球／卫生球 (zh) (wèishēngqiú), 樟腦丸／樟脑丸 (zh) (zhāngnǎowán)

  Min Nan: 臭丸 (zh-min-nan) (chhàu-oân), 樟腦丸／樟脑丸 (chiuⁿ-ló-oân)

• Czech: naftalín
• Dutch: mottenbal (nl) m
• Erzya: киньгуловтома (kińgulovtoma)
• Finnish: koipallo, koinmyrkky
• French: boule de naphtaline f
• German: Mottenkugel (de) f
• Greek: ναφθαλίνη (el) f (nafthalíni)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Hungarian: molyirtó
• Italian: pallina tarmicida f, naftalina (it) f
• Korean: 좀약 (jomyak)
• Luxembourgish: Mattekugel
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: møllkule m or f

• Portuguese: naftalina (pt) f
• Romanian: naftalină (ro) f
• Russian: нафтали́новый ша́рик m (naftalínovyj šárik)
• Spanish: bola de naftalina f, bola de alcanfor f
• Swedish: malkula c
• Tamil: அந்துருண்டை (anturuṇṭai)
• Turkish: naftalin (tr)

Verb

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

1. (transitive) To store or shelve something no longer used.

   Synonyms: store, shelve, set aside, defer

   They mothballed the old version after the new one came out.

2. (transitive, figuratively) To stop using (something), but keep it in good condition.
   • 2014, A teacher, "Choosing a primary school: a teacher's guide for parents", The Guardian, 23 September 2014:

     Some schools might have an art studio, an area of forestry in the playground, or a performance stage in the hall – all exceptional assets. Just check they get plenty of use and aren't mothballed while the school concentrates on (you guessed it) maths and literacy.

Antonyms

• demothball
• unmothball

Derived terms

• mothballed
• mothballer

Translations

to store something no longer used

• Dutch: in de mottenballen leggen
• Finnish: hyllyttää (fi)
• German: einmotten
• Japanese: 〜を使わずにとっておく (~wo tsukawazuni totteoku)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: legge på is

• Russian: законсервировать (ru) (zakonservirovatʹ)
• Swedish: lägga i malpåse (sv), lägga på is (sv), lägga på hyllan

Further reading

• mothball on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• “mothball”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.