different between mothball vs moth

English

Alternative forms

• moth ball
• moth-ball

Etymology

moth +? ball

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /m??b??l/

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

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

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

Further reading

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

English

Etymology 1

Germanic: from Old English moþþe, cognate with Dutch mot, German Motte.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /m??/
• (General American) enPR: môth, IPA^(key): /m??/
• (cot–caught merger, Canada) IPA^(key): /m??/, enPR: m?th
• Rhymes: -??

Noun

moth (plural moths)

1. A usually nocturnal insect of the order Lepidoptera, distinguished from butterflies by feather-like antennae.
2. (figuratively) Anything that gradually and silently eats, consumes, or wastes any other thing.

Synonyms

• lep

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

moth (third-person singular simple present moths, present participle mothing, simple past and past participle mothed)

1. (intransitive) To hunt for moths.

See also

• butterfly
• caterpillar
• worm

Etymology 2

From Hindi ??? (mo?h); see moth bean.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /m??t/
• (General American) enPR: m?t, IPA^(key): /mo?t/
• Rhymes: -??t

Noun

moth (countable and uncountable, plural moths)

1. The plant Vigna aconitifolia, moth bean.

Synonyms

• (Vigna aconitifolia): Turkish gram, mat bean, matki

Derived terms

• moth bean
• moth flour

Translations

References

• Vigna aconitifolia on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Vigna aconitifolia on Wikispecies.Wikispecies
• Vigna aconitifolia on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons
• moth at USDA Plants database

Etymology 3

Noun

moth (plural moths)

1. Obsolete form of mote.

   • So that, dear lords, if I be left behind, / A moth of peace, and he go to the war, / The rites for which I love him are bereft me, / And I a heavy interim shall support / By his dear absence. Let me go with him.

2. (dated) A liver spot, especially an irregular or feathery one.
   • 1895, Good Housekeeping, page 196, ISSN: 0731-3462

     To remove moth patches, wash the spots with a solution of common bicarbonate of soda and water several times a day, until the patches are removed, which will usually be in forty-eight hours.

   • 1999, R. L. Gupta, Directory of Diseases & Cures: In Homoeopathy, page 254, ?ISBN.

     Craves for sour things, chalks and eggs, fatty people with light brown spots on the face or liver spots, moth patches on forehead and cheek.

   • 2005, J. D. Patil, Textbook of Applied Materia Medica, page 108, ?ISBN.

     There are signs of liver affections as weakness, yellow complexion, liver spots, and moth spot like a saddle over the nose.

References

Anagrams

• Thom

Old Irish

Etymology

The word also carried the original meaning of "male organ," from Proto-Celtic *muto-, from Proto-Indo-European *mHú-to- (“strong one”), perhaps later "penis," related to Hittite [script needed] (m?wa, “something awe-inspiring”) and Luwian [script needed] (m?wa-, “to overpower”), possibly also Latin muto (“penis”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mo?/

Noun

moth m

1. amazement, stupor
   • c. 800–825, Diarmait, Milan Glosses on the Psalms, published in Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus (reprinted 1987, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies), edited and with translations by Whitley Stokes and John Strachan, vol. I, pp. 7–483, Ml. 68^b9

Declension

Mutation

References

Further reading

• Gregory Toner, Maire Ní Mhaonaigh, Sharon Arbuthnot, Dagmar Wodtko, Maire-Luise Theuerkauf, editors (2019) , “1 moth”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language