n.
Pronunciation: ' mo ̇ th- ˌ bo ̇ l
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 mothball s after the war> also : a state of having been rejected for further use or dismissed from further consideration <put that idea in mothball s >