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mothball
[ mawth-bawl, moth- ]
mothball
/ 藞尘蓲胃藢产蓴藧濒 /
noun
- Also calledcamphor ball a small ball of camphor or naphthalene used to repel clothes moths in stored clothing, blankets, etc
- put in mothballsto postpone work on (a project, activity, etc)
verb
- to prepare (a ship, aircraft, etc) for a long period of storage by sealing all openings with plastic to prevent corrosion
- to take (a factory, plant, etc) out of operation but maintain it so that it can be used in the future
- to postpone work on (a project, activity, etc)
Idioms and Phrases
- in mothballs,
- in disuse or in storage, especially with reference to standby equipment.
- (of ideas) dismissed as unworthy of further deliberation.
Example Sentences
The president promised that new duties on imports would bring companies' manufacturing processes "into the USA in record numbers," as if mothballed factories and new facilities can be built quickly and cheaply.
He was "mothballed" for several years and his handlers only resumed contact with him last December.
Come November 2022 all flights were grounded when owners Peel Group said it was no longer financially viable and mothballed the site.
Since the disaster, the toxic material lay in the mothballed factory for decades, polluting groundwater in the surrounding areas.
Since then, the toxic material had been lying in the mothballed factory, polluting groundwater in the surrounding areas.
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Definitions and idiom definitions from 亚洲网紅露点 Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, 漏 Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage庐 Idioms Dictionary copyright 漏 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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