How to Use mothball in a Sentence

mothball

1 of 2 noun
Definition of mothballnext
Synonyms for mothballnext
  • The smell is the same smell of new shoes, belt leather, mothballs.
    — Matthew Gavin Frank, Harper's Magazine, 13 July 2022
  • Unfortunately, the mere prospect of the search is enough to evoke the smell of mothballs.
    — Zoe Settle, ELLE Decor, 15 May 2011
  • Heck, Jack Nicholson might even come out of mothballs at 81.
    — Greg Cote, miamiherald, 30 June 2018
  • Skip the mothballs, which smell dreadful and are also toxic, and opt for cedar or lavender.
    — Jolie Kerr, Town & Country, 24 Mar. 2017
  • The air was thick with the smell of mothballs, used to protect specimens against insect damage.
    — National Geographic, 23 Apr. 2018
  • Transaero went bankrupt in 2015, stranding the planes without a buyer, and the two aircraft ended up in mothballs in the Mojave Desert.
    — Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, 30 Apr. 2020
  • In the past, mothballs have also been used as a bee deterrent, but experts now caution against it.
    — Meghan Holmes, Treehugger, 8 May 2023
  • The ships were put back into mothballs after the end of the Cold War, with some becoming floating museums.
    — Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, 18 May 2017
  • Clear out the mothballs, because this Cold War relic has a new mission: to serve the people of Cleveland as delightful 50-seat bistro and lounge.
    — David Grossman, Popular Mechanics, 5 Feb. 2018
  • While standing outside, an officer noticed the smell of decay and saw packets of mothballs at the doors.
    — BostonGlobe.com, 25 Sep. 2019
  • The seller’s broker explained that a gentleman who lives on the floor uses mothballs and the building is trying to do something about the odor.
    — Ronda Kaysen, New York Times, 28 Oct. 2017
  • What about preventing the disease by hanging mothballs around your neck?
    — Jeffrey Kluger, Time, 5 May 2020
  • Reed said only three schools have closed in Jefferson County in the past 15 years, so five schools slated for mothballs is no small matter.
    — John Aguilar, The Denver Post, 9 Feb. 2017
  • In the meantime, showrunners have been busy putting their projects in mothballs (to resume once the strike is over) and figuring out how to pay their teams as their deal funding is halted.
    — Michael Schneider, Variety, 27 May 2023
  • By choosing to shake the mothballs off the gown in Season 2, Carrie gets to reclaim it as a symbol of empowerment and rebirth.
    — Patrick Ryan, USA TODAY, 22 June 2023
  • The pesticide in most mothballs is para-dichlorobenzene (PDCB).
    — Joe, The Seattle Times, 4 Feb. 2018
  • Before taking out a camper trailer or RV, be sure to remove any rat poison, mothballs or antifreeze in the toilets.
    — oregonlive, 31 Aug. 2019
  • The board may be able to seek an injunction to compel the neighbor to stop using mothballs, another slow avenue to venture down.
    — Ronda Kaysen, New York Times, 28 Oct. 2017
  • The companies have mismanaged their nuclear power plants to the point that one of the two plants has been prematurely shut down and the other will soon be in mothballs.
    — Michael Hiltzik, latimes.com, 4 May 2018
  • Regardless of the reasoning behind the neglect, the Perry ships were put into mothballs faster than the Navy could replace them, leaving a major gap in the US fleet.
    — Sean Gallagher, Ars Technica, 14 June 2017
  • Naphthalene, found in mothballs and products alike, can destroy red blood cells and has been proven to cause cancer in animals but has not yet been proven to cause cancer in humans.
    — Lindsey Campbell, House Beautiful, 30 July 2014
  • Each chamber housed different particles, such as pet hair, mothballs, and smoke.
    — Lacey Muinos, Verywell Health, 14 Apr. 2023
  • Myth: Lime, sulfur, mothballs and commercial snake repellents will keep snakes away.
    — Shelia Poole, ajc, 5 June 2018
  • One is a bond that resembles a mothball, called aromatic carbon, while the other resembles grease and is called aliphatic.
    — David Grossman, Popular Mechanics, 28 June 2018
  • Bailey recorded touchbacks on all seven of his kickoffs, keeping speedy return man Steven Sims in mothballs.
    — BostonGlobe.com, 7 Oct. 2019
  • Researchers believe that about half of the carbon remains in its pure form while the rest of it binds with hydrogen, creating either greasy aliphatic carbon or gaseous naphthalene, the stuff used in mothballs.
    — Jason Daley, Smithsonian, 28 June 2018
  • Come Labor Day, the white attire of summer is to go into mothballs until next spring, dictate the more regimented fashionistas.
    — Mike Dunne, sacbee, 30 Aug. 2017
  • Applied Iguana Rid and placed mothballs and sprinkled a concoction of garlic, lemon juice and chili powder (only worked temporarily).
    — Linda Robertson, miamiherald, 11 July 2018
  • The naked superstructure of the plant has stood in mothballs for 11 years, a potent symbol of the nation’s failure, nearly 80 years after the Second World War, to deal decisively with the atomic era’s deadliest legacy.
    — Ralph Vartabedian, New York Times, 31 May 2023
  • Mercifully, their 0-7 shootout record remains in mothballs.
    — Matt Porter, BostonGlobe.com, 20 Feb. 2020
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mothball

2 of 2 verb
  • Many navy ships were mothballed after the war.
  • Smart cities mothball such treasures and play for time.
    — Blair Kamin, chicagotribune.com, 13 July 2018
  • Retail malls and stores will also be mothballed for a month.
    — Lindsay Schnell, USA TODAY, 18 Mar. 2020
  • Armies shrank, tanks were mothballed and money for defence dried up.
    — The Economist, 2 Mar. 2020
  • The planes were mothballed when longer versions of the aircraft came into service.
    — Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, 28 Mar. 2018
  • But the program was scrapped during World War II and the prototypes mothballed.
    — Andrea Simakis, cleveland, 21 Oct. 2019
  • That was almost green-lit circa 2011, but it’s been mothballed too.
    — Jack Dickey, SI.com, 21 Mar. 2018
  • The measure passed the House each time but was first blocked in the Senate and later mothballed after a roll call vote in that chamber.
    — Politifact Staff Writer, Dallas News, 17 Apr. 2023
  • The central bank and the peso should be mothballed and moved into a museum.
    — Steve H. Hanke and John Greenwood, WSJ, 26 Sep. 2018
  • The government plans to hold onto the property, but mothball it.
    — J.k. Dineen, SFChronicle.com, 17 July 2019
  • It’s time for Sri Lanka to mothball its central bank and replace it with a currency board.
    — Caleb Hofmann, National Review, 18 Jan. 2023
  • If the rains return, the expensive new water plants could end up being mothballed.
    — The Economist, 15 Feb. 2018
  • To begin with, North Korea’s nuclear program dwarfs the program that Tehran had and agreed to mothball.
    — Tracy Wilkinson, latimes.com, 8 June 2018
  • All this in a country that plans to mothball its nuclear power stations by next year.
    — Lenora Chu, The Christian Science Monitor, 8 Nov. 2021
  • The damaged reactor has been mothballed since, but the other reactor is still in use.
    — Marc Levy, chicagotribune.com, 30 May 2017
  • That habit has been mothballed for a few years, but this month the theater seats have been yanked out of the Milton stage on Studio’s second floor, replaced by cabaret tables and chairs.
    — Washington Post, 20 June 2019
  • The damaged reactor has been mothballed, but the other reactor is still in use.
    — Marc Levy, The Christian Science Monitor, 30 May 2017
  • While some ships could spring back into service quickly, others may be mothballed for months.
    — Fran Golden, Travel + Leisure, 7 Apr. 2020
  • Crude’s collapse since mid-2014 only added to his problems as earnings across the industry slumped, projects were mothballed and debts soared.
    — Rakteem Katakey, Houston Chronicle, 31 Oct. 2017
  • New deals on hold In response to the strike, studios have mothballed deals with creators, Deadline reported.
    — Irina Ivanova, CBS News, 9 May 2023
  • Oregon State mothballed the program for nearly two decades before restoring it in 2004.
    — Ndaschel, oregonlive, 26 Jan. 2023
  • Instead, the Energia rocket shared the same fate as Buran itself, mothballed after the 1988 launch and never to fly again.
    — National Geographic, 12 Apr. 2016
  • But borough officials bristle at any mention of mothballing or closing the port or even stopping work on the dock.
    — Zaz Hollander, Anchorage Daily News, 18 Dec. 2017
  • On the smartphone side, iPhone 5 will also be mothballed by the new operating system.
    — John Patrick Pullen, Fortune, 18 Sep. 2017
  • Still, the ships need expensive upgrades to stay current, and the Navy has repeatedly proposed mothballing them to pay for new ships.
    — Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, 24 May 2017
  • So airlines began buying the smaller planes and mothballing their bigger ones.
    — Robert Wall, WSJ, 29 Dec. 2018
  • Sound stages mothballed since last spring are poised to reopen, welcoming back thousands of actors and film crew members.
    — Meg James, Los Angeles Times, 10 Nov. 2023
  • The chemical weapons may be gone but asbestos, mold, broken pipes and hantavirus-carrying mice plague some of the 1940s-era buildings that have been mothballed for years.
    — Jade McDowell, The Seattle Times, 5 Feb. 2018
  • Trump initially agreed that the agency was unnecessary and mothballed it in his first budget plan last year.
    — Annie Linskey, BostonGlobe.com, 5 Mar. 2018
  • When the program was canceled, those vehicles, from mock-ups to nearly flight ready articles, were mothballed.
    — Eric Berger, Ars Technica, 10 July 2017

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'mothball.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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