Definition

1. Noun:

   • A small ball made of camphor or naphthalene: A substance with a strong smell, placed with stored clothes to repel moths and prevent them from laying eggs and causing damage.

2. Verb:

   • To put something into long-term storage, making it inactive but available for potential future use: This action involves carefully preserving an item, project, or facility with the intention of possibly using it again later.

Usage Examples

• Noun:

  • She placed a mothball in the trunk with her winter coats.
  • The distinct smell of mothballs filled the attic.

• Verb:

  • The company decided to mothball the old factory during the economic downturn.
  • The ambitious construction project was mothballed due to a lack of funding.

Advanced Usage

• "to be in mothballs" / "to be mothballed": Describes the state of being in long-term storage or reserve.
  • The historic ship has been in mothballs for a decade, awaiting restoration funds.
  • Several military bases were mothballed after the war ended.

Variants and Related Words

• Mothballed (adj): Describes something that has been placed into long-term storage.
  • The mothballed fleet was kept in a secure harbor.

Synonyms

• Noun: Camphor ball.
• Verb: Shelve, deactivate, place in reserve, put on hold.

Related Phrases

• "To take out of mothballs": To reactivate or return something to use after a period of storage.
  • The old policy was taken out of mothballs to address the new crisis.

Noun

1. a small sphere of camphor or naphthalene used to keep moths away from stored clothing

Verb

1. put into long-term storage