Definition

1. Noun:
   • A small burrowing mammal: A mole is a small, velvety-furred mammal with tiny eyes and powerful forefeet adapted for digging and living underground.
   • A protective coastal structure: A mole is a massive, usually stone or concrete, structure built from a shore into a body of water to act as a breakwater, pier, or causeway.
   • A small skin mark: A mole is a small, often dark, congenital spot on the skin caused by a cluster of pigmented cells.
   • A savory sauce: A mole is a rich, dark, and complex Mexican sauce, often containing chili peppers, spices, and sometimes chocolate.
   • A spy: A mole is an agent who infiltrates an organization, especially an intelligence agency, to act as a spy for a rival organization over a long period.
   • A scientific unit: A mole is the SI base unit for the amount of substance, defined as containing exactly 6.02214076×10²³ (Avogadro's number) of elementary entities (e.g., atoms or molecules).

Usage Examples

• Noun (Mammal):
  • The mole dug a complex network of tunnels in the garden.
  • Moles are rarely seen above ground.
• Noun (Structure):
  • The old stone mole sheltered the fishing boats from the storm.
  • They walked to the end of the mole to watch the sunset.
• Noun (Skin mark):
  • She has a small mole on her cheek.
  • The doctor examined the changing mole.
• Noun (Sauce):
  • The chicken was served in a delicious mole poblano.
  • Traditional mole can contain over twenty ingredients.
• Noun (Spy):
  • The intelligence agency discovered a mole in its ranks.
  • He had been a mole for the enemy for over a decade.
• Noun (Unit):
  • One mole of carbon atoms has a mass of 12 grams.
  • The chemical reaction required two moles of hydrogen.

Advanced Usage

• "To have a mole in (an organization)": To have a spy secretly placed within a group.
  • The police suspected they had a mole in the department.
• "As blind as a mole": (Idiom) Having very poor eyesight or being unobservant.
  • Without his glasses, he's as blind as a mole.

Variants and Related Words

• Mol (n): An informal abbreviation for the unit "mole" in chemistry.
• Molehill (n): A small mound of earth thrown up by a burrowing mole.
• Moleskin (n): 1. The soft, grey fur of a mole. 2. A heavy, durable cotton fabric.

Synonyms

• Mammal: burrower, fossorial mammal.
• Structure: breakwater, jetty, pier, seawall.
• Skin mark: nevus (medical term), beauty spot.
• Sauce: Mexican sauce.
• Spy: infiltrator, double agent, plant, sleeper agent.
• Unit: gram-molecule, mol (abbrev.).

Related Phrases

• Make a mountain out of a molehill: (Idiom) To exaggerate a minor problem, making it seem much more serious than it is.
  • You're just making a mountain out of a molehill; it's a small mistake.
• Mole rat: (Compound noun) A different type of burrowing rodent, not a true mole.

Noun

1. small velvety-furred burrowing mammal having small eyes and fossorial forefeet
2. a protective structure of stone or concrete; extends from shore into the water to prevent a beach from washing away
3. a small congenital pigmented spot on the skin
4. spicy sauce often containing chocolate
5. a spy who works against enemy espionage
6. the molecular weight of a substance expressed in grams; the basic unit of amount of substance adopted under the Systeme International d'Unites