molt
verb (used without object)
(of birds, insects, reptiles, etc.) to cast or shed the feathers, skin, or the like, that will be replaced by a new growth.
are molting
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present progressiveof molt.present progressive
Used to describe an ongoing action or state that is currently taking place in the immediate present.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
While these mergansers are molting, one female is taking care of all the ducklings.
From NewsForKids.net ● May 7, 2024
If they are molting, the birds don’t compete because their energy levels plummet when shedding feathers.
From Washington Times ● Apr. 23, 2023
A year later, those baby larval ticks are molting into nymph ticks — the ticks posing a risk to so many of us this summer.
From Salon ● Jun. 9, 2021
“They are molting now, buried in the mud out there,” Douglas said, gesturing toward the marshy coppice that crowds both sides of the two-lane Queen’s Highway, the major north-south road on Andros.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 14, 2015
This "silken hair" is replaced by adult summer pelage, and juvenal chipmunks which are molting into adult summer pelage closely resemble the adult males, and later on in the summer, the adult females.
From Geographic Distribution and Taxonomy of the Chipmunks of Wyoming by John A. White
