molder

[ mohl-der ]

/ ˈmoʊl dər /

verb (used without object)

to turn to dust by natural decay; crumble; disintegrate; waste away: a house that had been left to molder.

verb (used with object)

to cause to molder.

Nearby words

Also especially British, mould·er.

Origin of molder

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. 2019

Examples from the Web for mouldering

Someone might pull your mouldering hardback from the bottom of the stack and point a neon sign at it.
Famous for Not Being Famous: Enough About ‘Stoner’|Drew Smith|October 31, 2013|DAILY BEAST
What sort of mouldering growth in a person's brain would make him press send on something like that?
Bryan Fischer, All Class|Michael Tomasky|December 14, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Who knows on what spot of the earth his bones are mouldering, or what dogs and birds have devoured him?
Odysseus, the Hero of Ithaca|Homer
When the sun went below the sea-margin there lay before him on the skerry some mouldering linen rags and nought else.
Weird Tales from Northern Seas|Jonas Lie

Gone; mouldering in the dust; and their magnificence nourishes the worm.
Sermons of Christmas Evans|Joseph Cross
He noted with satisfaction that the water was still running in a good stream down the mouldering trench.
The Motor Rangers Through the Sierras|Marvin West
He glanced at me as he spoke, and I realised that he was taking us by a path that would lead us away from the mouldering bones.
The Lost Valley|J. M. Walsh

British Dictionary definitions for mouldering

molder

/ (ˈməʊldə) /

verb, noun

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 mouldering

molder

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

molder

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