molding
Americannoun
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the act or process of molding.
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something molded.
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a strip of contoured wood or other material placed just below the juncture of a wall and a ceiling.
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Architecture, Furniture.
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any of various long, narrow, ornamental surfaces that are either continuous or discontinuous, with uniform cross sections for the full length and a strikingly modeled profile that casts strong shadows: used on frames, tables, etc., and certain architectural members, as cornices, stringcourses, or bases.
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a strip of wood, stone, etc., having such a surface.
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noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of molding
Middle English word dating back to 1300–50; see origin at mold 1, -ing 1
Vocabulary lists containing molding
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.
See Examples For:
The reporting reveals the important role of Canada in molding the allied consensus on how to deal with the new Washington.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 2026
You can also make your work feel more meaningful by molding your role to your strengths, as opposed to molding yourself to the role — a practice called “job crafting.”
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 22, 2026
There’s the cutting and molding of the cake into a cup.
From Salon ● Jun. 14, 2026
Indeed, there’s much time, effort and money spent on molding a show’s return into the kind of must-see event that will draw viewers old and new.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 6, 2026
The cord that came through the window was tied to a brass bell and the bell was fixed in a rough wooden jig that had been nailed to the window molding.
From "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy
Other impressive features found in the space included original teak plank flooring, an original marble staircase, and original picture moldings and wainscoting.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 22, 2026
On the first floor, the front parlor, with its wooden wainscoting and classical door frames, is more elegant after conservation restored small details in the decorative moldings.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 7, 2026
Inside, the ballroom is all white and gold like a czar’s summer palace, with coffered ceilings, gold-trimmed moldings, and crystal chandeliers.
From Slate ● Aug. 5, 2025
It was an opera house, and it was really there, with its baroque moldings and balconies sprawling out atop the Empire Polo Club stage at this year’s Coachella festival.
From Salon ● Apr. 16, 2025
Stone cutters and sculptors finished the moldings and capitals while masons laid the stone slabs that made up the floor.
From "Cathedral: The Story of Its Construction" by David Macaulay
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.
