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 clothing
2 plural : 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>