Main Entry:

¹moth·ball

Pronunciation:

\ˈmȯth-ˌbȯl\

Function:

noun

Date:

1906

1: a ball made formerly of camphor but now often of naphthalene and paradichlorobenzene and used to keep moths from clothing2plural : a condition of protective storage <put the ships in mothballs after the war> ; also : a state of having been rejected for further use or dismissed from further consideration <put that idea in mothballs>