DictionaryAI

mole

noun
SayMOHLUS/mol/UK/məʊl/

Pluralmoles

13 meanings of mole

Practice

  1. 1
    small animalnouncountable
    A small burrowing, insect-eating mammal of the family Talpidae.

    The gardener set traps after a mole tunneled beneath the vegetable beds.

    Several species of mole are nearly blind, relying on touch to navigate underground.

    Note

    The animal's tunneling life lent its name to the spy inside an organization and to drainage machinery. Those senses all grow from this one, and an unseen worker underground is always the image behind them.

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • The spy sense draws on the image of an inconspicuous burrowing animal. freshairarchive.org
    • Drainage machinery is another extension of the animal name, sharing its underground activity. gutenberg.org
  2. 2
    skin spotnouncountable
    A pigmented spot on the skin, sometimes slightly raised or hairy; a nevus.

    A new mole appeared on her shoulder over the summer.

    Dermatologists advise watching any mole that changes shape or color.

    UsageNaevus (US nevus) is the medical term; in everyday talk the skin mark is a mole.

    Note

    It has no link to the burrowing animal, because mole is really several separate words that happen to look alike.

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

    • The skin-mark word and animal name descend from different Germanic forms. en.wiktionary.org
  3. 3
    spynouncountable
    A spy or secret informant who works inside an organization, such as a government agency, company or criminal gang, and passes its secrets to outsiders.

    Counterintelligence officers spent months hunting the mole inside their ranks.

    The novel's plot turns on a mole buried deep within the embassy.

    UsageCommon patterns include a mole in an organization and a mole inside its ranks. People may hunt for a mole.

    Similarspy, infiltrator, plant

    Note

    Espionage borrowed the animal's way of working: unseen, below the surface and in place for a long time. John le Carré made the word familiar in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (1974), though comparing spies to moles is far older. A defector crosses over and leaves, but a mole stays inside and passes secrets out.

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 5 facts

    • The espionage sense draws on the animal's hidden, burrowing activity. ctpublic.org
    • John le Carré popularized the spy sense through Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. en.wikipedia.org
    • Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy was written by John le Carré and first published in 1974. johnlecarre.com
    • The comparison of spies to moles predates le Carré's novel. en.wikipedia.org
    • The conventional intelligence distinction is that a defector leaves, whereas a mole remains inside. cia.gov
  4. 4
    chemistry unitnouncountable
    The SI base unit of amount of substance, equal to exactly 6.02214076×10²³ elementary entities such as atoms or molecules.

    Chemists measured out one mole of sodium chloride for the reaction.

    A single mole of carbon-12 weighs almost exactly twelve grams.

    UsageThe symbol mol never takes a plural s: 2 mol, 0.5 mol/L. When writing the unit name, use two moles.

    Note

    Chemistry's counting unit entered English in 1897 as a calque of German Mol and is spelled as if it came from molecule. Both words trace back to Latin moles, which makes it a distant cousin of the stone breakwater.

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

    • The chemical term entered English in 1897 through translation from German Mol. en.wikipedia.org
    • Mole is a calque of German Mol, with spelling suggesting derivation from molecule. en.wiktionary.org
    • The chemical term mole and molecule ultimately derive from Latin moles. en.wiktionary.org
    • Mole meaning a stone breakwater shares that Latin ancestry. en.wiktionary.org
  5. 5
    SayMOH-layUS/ˈmoʊleɪ/UK/ˈməʊleɪ/
    saucenouncountable or uncountable
    A spicy Mexican or Central American sauce, especially one containing chocolate, used in cooking savory main dishes rather than desserts.

    The restaurant's mole simmered with dried chilies, nuts, and dark chocolate.

    Guests ladled mole over turkey at the holiday table.

    UsageSaid MOH-lay. Use chicken with mole for sauce generally, a rich mole for a particular preparation, and two moles for varieties.

    Note

    A Nahuatl word for a sauce that reached English through Spanish. Mōlli meant "sauce, stew, something ground," which fits a dish built from ground chilies, nuts and spices.

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

  6. 6
    nouncountable
    A burrowing rodent of the kind also called a mole-rat.
    Note

    Here the name crosses a zoological line. Mole-rats are rodents that gnaw roots, while the true mole is an insect-eater of the family Talpidae. The shared name reflects a shared burrowing life, not kinship.

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

  7. 7
    stone piernouncountable
    A massive stone structure built out into water to serve as a pier, breakwater, or causeway between separated places.

    Ships moored along the ancient mole that guarded the port.

    Engineers reinforced the mole after winter storms eroded its base.

    Similarbreakwater, jetty, pier

    Note

    A word for sheer bulk: Latin mōles meant "mass, heap, rock," and a harbor mole is exactly that, with rock and fill heaped out into the water. It projects from the shore into the water. Herman Melville's Moby-Dick (1851) calls the battery at the city's downtown edge "that noble mole," washed by waves.

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 5 facts

    • Latin mōlēs meant mass, heap, and rock. en.wiktionary.org
    • A harbor mole is a massive structure made from stone built into the water. en.wikipedia.org
    • A quay can be parallel or perpendicular to the waterfront, so this distinction is not categorical. vitrinelinguistique.oqlf.gouv.qc.ca
    • Herman Melville wrote Moby-Dick, first published in 1851. archive.org
    • Moby-Dick describes the Battery at Manhattan's downtown extremity as "that noble mole," washed by waves. gutenberg.org
  8. 8
    womb growthnouncountable
    An abnormal mass of tissue in the uterus from a failed pregnancy, especially a hydatidiform mole, in which placental tissue overgrows after faulty fertilization.

    An ultrasound showed a mole rather than a viable embryo.

    Surgeons evacuated the mole after she presented with abnormal bleeding.

    Note

    Obstetrics took this word from French môle, from Latin mola, "millstone," because the growth is a hardened mass. It is unrelated to the skin spot, even though both describe tissue. It also appears in the term hydatidiform mole, where abnormal tissue forms grapelike vesicles that are usually surgically removed.

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 4 facts

    • The obstetric word comes from French môle, from Latin mola, meaning millstone, with the naming explained by the hardened mass. en.wiktionary.org
    • The obstetric word is etymologically unrelated to mole meaning a skin spot. en.wiktionary.org
    • Hydatidiform mole involves abnormal tissue forming grapelike vesicles. hmole-chorio.org.uk
    • Surgical removal is usual, but some molar pregnancies end spontaneously or can be treated with medicine. nhs.uk

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of mole apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origins

Meaning 2

From Middle English mole, from Old English māl ("a mole, spot, mark, blemish"), going back through Proto-Germanic to a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "dark, dirty" or "to soil." It is related to Scots mail ("spot, stain") and Gothic mail ("blemish").

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

  • Mole meaning a skin mark descends through Middle English mole from Old English māl, meaning a mole, spot, mark or blemish. en.wiktionary.org
  • The proposed ancestry runs through Proto-Germanic to Indo-European roots associated with darkness, dirt and soiling. en.wiktionary.org
  • Scots mail, meaning spot or stain, is cognate with this English word. en.wiktionary.org
  • Gothic mail, glossed as spot or blemish, is cognate with this English word. en.wiktionary.org
Meanings 1, 3, 6, 9

From Middle English molle ("mole"), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *mulaz ("mole, salamander") and a Proto-Indo-European root. It is related to Dutch mol ("mole") and German Molch ("salamander, newt").

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

  • Mole derives from Middle English molle, meaning mole. en.wiktionary.org
  • The ultimate ancestry includes Proto-Germanic *mulaz, meaning mole or salamander, and a Proto-Indo-European root. en.wiktionary.org
  • Mole is related to Dutch mol, meaning mole. en.wiktionary.org
  • Mole is related to German Molch, meaning salamander or newt. en.wiktionary.org
Meaning 11

The word started life as moll, which came from Moll, an archaic pet form of the name Mary. Two things then pushed it toward its present form: the spelling of mole in the sense "an internal spy", and the way /mɒl/ and /məʊl/ came to sound alike in Australian speech.

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

Meanings 7, 10

From French môle or Latin mōles ("mass, heap, rock").

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

Meaning 4

German Mol was the model, and English copied it as a calque. Its spelling, though, suggests a direct borrowing from molecule or from Latin moles, and Latin moles is in any case where both Mol and molecule ultimately come from.

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

Meaning 8

Latin mola ("millstone") gave French môle, and English took the word from French before the 20th century. The name refers to the growth being a hardened mass.

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

Meaning 5

Classical Nahuatl mōlli, meaning "sauce, stew, something ground", passed into Spanish as mole, the source of the English word.

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts