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
His secretary of state articulated 12 demands—among them, that Iran mothball its nuclear and missile programs, end support for proxy groups, and remove all militias from Iraq and Syria—that few Iran experts believed Tehran could meet absent regime change.
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Brett McGurk, Foreign Affairs, 22 Jan. 2020
The structure could be mothballed sometime next year until a plan for its reuse is determined.
—Jason Clayworth, Axios, 15 Jan. 2025
Flix only owns one bus in Europe — currently mothballed in a Berlin parking garage — and that’s only needed to appease German lawmakers.
—Iain Martin, Forbes, 2 Jan. 2025
Three Mile Island’s reactor has been mothballed for five years, not just one.
—IEEE Spectrum, 2 Oct. 2024
See All Example Sentences for mothball
Brett McGurk, Foreign Affairs, 22 Jan. 2020
The structure could be mothballed sometime next year until a plan for its reuse is determined.
—Jason Clayworth, Axios, 15 Jan. 2025
Flix only owns one bus in Europe — currently mothballed in a Berlin parking garage — and that’s only needed to appease German lawmakers.
—Iain Martin, Forbes, 2 Jan. 2025
Three Mile Island’s reactor has been mothballed for five years, not just one.
—IEEE Spectrum, 2 Oct. 2024
See All Example Sentences for mothball
Cite this Entry
“Mothball.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mothball. Accessed 12 Mar. 2025.
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