as in to dismantle
to stop using (something) while keeping it to be possibly used in the future
Many navy ships were mothballed after the war.
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Recent Examples of mothball
Output from the mine went into a gradual decline following the War, and it was mothballed in 1996.
—
David Blackmon, Forbes, 10 Dec. 2024
Unique among Western nations, France remained committed to producing nuclear energy while the rest of the world mothballed many nuclear facilities in reaction to disasters like Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, and Fukushima.
—Daniel Markind, Forbes.com, 9 May 2025
Now Kelvin had experienced a level of public humiliation on par with Jesse’s Prayer Pods, and his entire Prism project, which had become a glittering monument to himself, would have to be mothballed, too.
—Scott Tobias, Vulture, 21 Apr. 2025
When Kar Kraft’s work on the vehicle was completed, it was shipped to Shelby American in Los Angeles for a full rebuild, then trucked back across country to Ford’s headquarters in Detroit, where it was mothballed in storage.
—Howard Walker, Robb Report, 24 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for mothball
David Blackmon, Forbes, 10 Dec. 2024
Unique among Western nations, France remained committed to producing nuclear energy while the rest of the world mothballed many nuclear facilities in reaction to disasters like Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, and Fukushima.
—Daniel Markind, Forbes.com, 9 May 2025
Now Kelvin had experienced a level of public humiliation on par with Jesse’s Prayer Pods, and his entire Prism project, which had become a glittering monument to himself, would have to be mothballed, too.
—Scott Tobias, Vulture, 21 Apr. 2025
When Kar Kraft’s work on the vehicle was completed, it was shipped to Shelby American in Los Angeles for a full rebuild, then trucked back across country to Ford’s headquarters in Detroit, where it was mothballed in storage.
—Howard Walker, Robb Report, 24 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for mothball
Recent Examples of Synonyms for mothball
dismantle
Verb
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Yet, the very tools for tracking inequity inside government are being dismantled.—
Sheila Callaham,
Forbes.com,
21 Aug. 2025
-
And this matters now more than ever, during a time when universities are dismantling their humanities programs and being pressured into pandering to authoritarian strongmen.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
19 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Mothball.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mothball. Accessed 27 Aug. 2025.
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