See Also: mothball(dictionary)
mothball 1, noun(dictionary)
mothball 2, verb(dictionary)

mothball (iou)



mothball noun & verb. E20.
[from MOTH noun1 + BALL noun1.]
A. noun.
A ball of camphor or naphthalene placed among stored fabrics to keep moths away. E20.
fig. In pl. A prolonged state of being in disuse or reserve or out of active service. Chiefly in in mothballs, out of mothballs. M20.
A. E. Stevenson Take the Paley Report out of mothballs, and review its recommendations. Guardian Apollo hardware put in mothballs..could be brought out.
b. verb trans. Store among or in mothballs; take out of use or active service; put in storage for an indefinite time. M20.
Journal (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) On the doorstep of one of the company's presently mothballed quarries. New Internationalist Environmental protests have persuaded the Aquino Government to mothball the Bataan nuclear plant.