mothball

Fetched 2026-10-26 (cache).

Synonyms: moth-ball, moth ball, mothballs, moorball, mohall, demothball, moonball, botball, dot ball, mushball

Antonyms: moth-ball, moth ball, mothballs, moorball, mohall, demothball, moonball, botball, dot ball, mushball

Related words from Datamuse; suggestions, not definitions.

Noun

1. {{senseid|en|pesticide ball}}{{lb|en|chiefly|in the plural}} A [[small#Adjective|small]] [[ball#Noun|ball]] of [[chemical#Adjective|chemical]] [[pesticide]] (originally [[camphor]] and now typically [[naphthalene]] or [[paradichlorobenzene]]) and [[deodorant#Adjective|deodorant]] [[place#Verb|placed]] in or around [[clothing#Noun|clothing]] and other [[article#Noun|articles]] to [[deter]] [[moth#Noun|moth]] [[larva]]e which may [[damage#Verb|damage]] them.

Verb

1. To [[store#Verb|store]] ([[clothing#Noun|clothing]], etc.) with [[mothball#Noun|mothballs]] ''({{senseno|en|pesticide ball}})''.
2. {{lb|en|figurative|chiefly|passive voice}}

Source: Wiktionary · CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wiktionary dump) · cached copy, not a rewrite.