Mothball

From Encyclopedia Jr, free information reference for Kids

Mothballs are small balls of chemical pesticide and deodorant used when storing clothing and other articles susceptible to damage from mold or moth larvae. Older mothballs consisted primarily of naphthalene, but due to naphthalene's flammability, modern mothballs use 1,4-dichlorobenzene instead. Both of these ingredients have a strong, pungent odor often associated strongly with mothballs.

Their use when clothing is stored out-of-season, gave rise to the colloquial usage of the terms mothballed and put into mothballs to refer to anything which is put into storage or whose operation is suspended. Some claim that the use of the word in this sense derives from naval usage. When warships were laid up, the open ends of their gun barrels and other openings were covered in white material to prevent the entry of water. These white circles suggested mothballs.