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.

molder

²

[ mohl-der ]

noun

1. a person or thing that molds.
2. a person who makes molds.
3. Printing. one of a set of electrotyped plates used only for making duplicate electrotypes ( worker ).

molder

/ ˈməʊldə /

verb

1. the US spelling of moulder 1

Other Words From

• un·moldered especially British, un·mouldered adjective
• un·molder·ing especially British, un·moulder·ing adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of molder¹

1525–35; obsolete mold to crumble (v. use of mold ³ ) + -er ⁶

Origin of molder²

late Middle English word dating back to 1400–50; mold ¹, -er ¹

Example Sentences

An aggressively flatulent vision of undarned socks, rumpled shirts and unspeakably greasy trench coat, Lamb is invariably surrounded by whiskey bottles and the moldering remnants of Chinese takeout.

From Los Angeles Times

Gone would be death row, with its tiny, moldering cells.

From Los Angeles Times

Soon there was hardly room in his moldering Cotswolds mansion for his second wife, Elizabeth, who eventually moved to a boardinghouse in Torquay, an English working-class seaside resort.

From New York Times

He dried moldering bread on the floor in one of the apartments in an attempt to be able to eat it.

From New York Times

On that — and later visits to the immense building — Mr. Demesmaeker discovered a warren of rooms and anterooms, some occupied by lawyers or judges, others abandoned and moldering.

From New York Times

Related Words

• decompose