I. ˈ ̷ ̷ˌ ̷ ̷ noun
Etymology: moth (I) + ball
1. : a ball of the size of a marble made formerly of camphor but now of naphthalene and used to keep moths from clothing
2. mothballs plural : the condition of being put into protective storage or relegated to a reserve, standby, or caretaker status
the warships in mothballs at the Puget Sound Naval shipyard — New York Times
a million-dollar aluminum powder plant … is being taken out of mothballs Monday — Wall Street Journal
then the war ended and mothballs took over — E.L.Beach
also : a state of having been rejected for further use or dismissed from further consideration
you can put that idea into mothballs and forget it
II. transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
: to inactivate and preserve (as a ship) chiefly by dehumidification
plastic … is sprayed over the gun mount of a ship being mothballed — All Hands
our sick bay had been mothballed — J.J.Micka
the packing plant mothballed for five years — Newsweek
III. adjective
: preserved, inactivated
mothball ships