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definitions

molder

1
[mohl-der]
verb (used without object)
  1. to turn to dust by natural decay; crumble; disintegrate; waste away: a house that had been left to molder.
verb (used with object)
  1. to cause to molder.
Also especially British, mould·er.

Origin of molder

1
1525–35; obsolete mold to crumble (v. use of mold3) + -er6
Related formsun·mold·ered; especially British, un·mould·ered, adjectiveun·mold·er·ing; especially British, un·mould·er·ing, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for moldering

decompose, disintegrate, crumble

Examples from the Web for moldering

Contemporary Examples of moldering

Historical Examples of moldering

  • In the vast Turkish cemeteries there were moldering bodies innumerable.

    In the Wilderness

    Robert Hichens

  • I stepped at once into, surely, some moldering century long hidden in the dark womb of the forgotten past.

    The Spell of Egypt

    Robert Hichens

  • No moldering horror met my gaze—no blanched or decaying bones; no grinning skull mocked me with its hollow eye-sockets.

    Vendetta

    Marie Corelli

  • The thought of that coffin moved me to a stern smile—that splintered, damp, and moldering wood must speak for itself by and by.

    Vendetta

    Marie Corelli

  • A score of people might have amused themselves wandering about among the moldering tombs, as the church-yard is free to all.

    Bats in the Wall

    P. T. Raymond

British Dictionary definitions for moldering

molder

verb, noun
  1. the US spelling of moulder 1
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for moldering

molder

v.

also moulder, "to crumble away," 1530s, probably frequentative of mold (n.3) "loose earth." Related: Moldered; moldering.

molder

n.

also moulder, mid-15c., "one who molds or forms," agent noun from mold (v.). From late 13c. as a surname.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper