mothballs
IdiomsExample Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
A new sofa with firm cushions and pristine fabric outshines an old, dusty, worn-in couch that smells like mothballs.
From Washington Post • Jul. 26, 2022
Growing up, restaurateur Andy Kalish associated two smells with Friday nights: his grandmother's chicken soup and mothballs in his grandfather's closet.
From Salon • Apr. 16, 2022
Rowlf the philosophical piano-playing dog, a regular on “The Jimmy Dean Show” in the 1960s, is brought out of mothballs.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 19, 2021
Meanwhile, mechanics will take the aircraft that have been grounded nearly two years out of mothballs — making sure all the moving parts are lubricated and functioning correctly.
From Seattle Times • Nov. 18, 2020
You can’t go home again because home has ceased to exist except in the mothballs of memory.
From "Travels with Charley in Search of America" by John Steinbeck
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
