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Webster's Dictionary (1865)

5 entries under this word

Mold

Mōld or Mōuld, n.

noun

n. [A-S. & O. Fr. molde, Icel. mold, Dan. muld, Sw. mull, mylla, D. mul, L. Ger. & N. H. Ger. mull, A-S. myl, O. H. Ger. molt, molta, Goth. mulda, allied to Goth. malan, Lat. molere, to bruise, grind.] [The prevalent spelling is mould; but as the u has been omitted in the other words of this class, as bold, gold, old, cold, &c., it seems desirable to complete the analogy by dropping it in this word, as was done by Spenser, South, and many others. The omission of the u is now very common in America.]

Sense 1. Fine, soft earth, or earth easily pulverized, such as constitutes soil; as, black mold.

Sense 2. Hence, the earthy material, or the matter of which any thing is formed; composing substance; material.

Nature formed me of her softest mold. Addison.

Sense 3. A substance like down, which forms on bodies which lie long in warm and damp air. The microscope shows that this substance consists of small plants.

Sense 4. A spot; a blemish; a mole. [Obs.] Spenser.

Mōld or Mōuld, n.

noun

[Fr. moule, O. Fr. mole, Pr. molle, Sp. & Pg. molde, It. modano, modine, from Lat. modulus. See MODULE and MODEL.] [For spelling, see MOLD, above.] 1. The matrix, or prepared and shaped cavity, in which any thing is cast and receives its form. *The liquid ore he drained Into its molds prepared. Milton.*

  1. Hence, any thing which serves to regulate the size, form, &c., as of articles made by mechanical skill, as the pattern used by a ship-builder, carpenter, or mason.
  2. Cast; form; shape; character.

Crowned with an architrave of antique mold. Pope. 4. (Anat.) A fontanel, or space occupied by a cartilaginous membrane in the skull of a fetus, and of a new-born child, situated at the angles of the bones which form the skull. Dunglison.

Mōld or Mōuld, v. t.

verbtransitive

[imp. & p. p. MOLDED, OR MOULDED; p. pr. & vb. n. MOLDING, OR MOULDING.]

  1. To cause to contract mold.
  2. To cover with mold or soil.

Mōld or Mōuld, v. i.

verbintransitive

To contract mold; to become moldy.

Mōld or Mōuld, v. t.

verbtransitive

v. t. [Fr. mouler, O. Fr. moler, moller, Sp. & Pg. moldar. See MOLD, above.]

Sense 1. To form into a particular shape; to shape; to model.

He forgeth and moldeth metals. Hall.

Did I request thee, Maker, from my clay To mold me man? Milton.

Sense 2. To knead; as, to mold dough or bread.

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