Meaning of Mothball | Babel Free

Definitions

A small ball of chemical pesticide (originally camphor and now typically naphthalene or paradichlorobenzene) and deodorant placed in or around clothing and other articles to deter moth larvae which may damage them.

in-plural

Equivalents

Examples

“There were two carloads of equipments. Upon their return to the armory the blankets were shook and repacked with mothballs; […]”

“Me and Solly, as I now called him, prepared to shake off our moth-balls and wing our way against the arc-lights of the joyous and tuneful East.”

“The church interior was as comfortable as Sunday-morning toast and marmalade— […] gorgeous stained-glass windows, and a general polite creaking of ladies' best stays and gentlemen's stiff shirt-bosoms, and an odor of the best cologne and moth-balls.”

“Mr. President, I have supported the draft and shall do so as long as it is necessary. But I believe that when a draftee has served his 2 years and is released for normal civilian life, he should be free to place his uniform in mothballs until the Nation's safety requires his return to active duty.”

CEFR level