as in shedding
to cast (a natural bodily covering or appendage) aside
a crab molts its shell as it grows larger
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Recent Examples of molting
Here, Jaffe softens the borders between his dual interests in electronic music and jazz, crafting compositions that are constantly molting and emerging anew.
—
Dash Lewis, Pitchfork, 20 Dec. 2025
Extreme drought is causing breeding grounds, molting spots and migration stopover sites to vanish.
—The Editors, JSTOR Daily, 7 Aug. 2025
Dash Lewis, Pitchfork, 20 Dec. 2025
Extreme drought is causing breeding grounds, molting spots and migration stopover sites to vanish.
—The Editors, JSTOR Daily, 7 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for molting
Verb
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Among the most oversold stocks was Meta , which faced two unfavorable outcomes in court last week, in addition to shedding staff.—
Liz Napolitano,
CNBC,
28 Mar. 2026
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Lanzone’s renovation efforts initially focused on shedding Yahoo’s dysfunctional parts.—
Michael Liedtke,
Los Angeles Times,
27 Mar. 2026
Verb
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The choice also reflects the peeling back of historical layers.—
Essie Assibu,
Variety,
29 Mar. 2026
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However, peeling back the curtain, that support drops substantially when looking solely at younger Republicans and conservative-leaning independents — two groups that Trump made gains with in 2024.—
Elena Moore,
NPR,
28 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Molting.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/molting. Accessed 31 Mar. 2026.
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