mothball

USMAWTH-bawl/ˈmɔθbɔl/UKMOTH-bawl/ˈmɒθbɔːl/

3 meanings of mothball

1
store unusedverbfigurativelytransitive
To stop using something and store or shelve it, while keeping it in good condition.
The navy mothballed three aging destroyers rather than scrapping them.
The city plans to mothball the old library while it raises money for repairs.
Similardecommission, shelve
Oppositereactivate
2
insect poisonnouncountable
A small ball of chemical pesticide and deodorant, usually naphthalene or paradichlorobenzene, placed among clothing and other stored articles to protect them from moth larvae and mold.
She packed the wool blankets in a cedar trunk with a handful of mothballs.
A faint mothball odor still clung to the suits in the attic wardrobe.
3
noun
Storage or inactivity with the possibility of future use, in the expressions in mothballs and out of mothballs.
The navy kept dozens of World War II ships in mothballs in case they were needed again.
The studio is bringing the old franchise out of mothballs with a new series.
Similarstorage

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From moth + ball.