mothball

Definition

A small ball of chemical pesticide (originally camphor and now typically naphthalene or paradichlorobenzene) and deodorant placed in or around clothing and other articles to deter moth larvae which may damage them.

Etymology

The noun is derived from moth + ball. The verb is derived from the noun.

Example Sentences

• "There were two carloads of equipments. Upon their return to the armory the blankets were shook and repacked with mothballs; […]"
• "Me and Solly, as I now called him, prepared to shake off our moth-balls and wing our way against the arc-lights of the joyous and tuneful East."
• "The church interior was as comfortable as Sunday-morning toast and marmalade— […] gorgeous stained-glass windows, and a general polite creaking of ladies' best stays and gentlemen's stiff shirt-bosoms, and an odor of the best cologne and moth-balls."