What does "mold" mean?
A hollow form or matrix for shaping a fluid or plastic substance.
Mold
/moʊld/ name, noun, verb
name, noun, verb ·Top 500 ·Elementary level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A hollow form or matrix for shaping a fluid or plastic substance.
- Grammar: mold is listed as name, noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: cast, accommodate, accommodate with, accord.
- Useful contrasts: destroy, ignore, neglect.
- Usage evidence: Education helps to mold character.
How to use "mold"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "mold" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "mold" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "mold" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "mold" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "mold" is acting as name, noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "cast" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "mold", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A hollow form or matrix for shaping a fluid or plastic substance. US, countable, uncountable
- 2 A natural substance in the form of a furry or woolly growth of tiny fungi that appears when organic material lies for a long time exposed to (usually warm and moist) air. US, countable, uncountable
- 3 Loose friable soil, rich in humus and fit for planting. US, countable, uncountable
- 4 The top or crown of the head. US, dialectal, obsolete, uncountable
"What a while continueth the mould and crowne of our heads to beate and pant, before our braine is well ſetled[…]"
- 5 container into which liquid is poured to create a given shape when it hardens wordnet
Show 17 more definitions
- 6 A frame or model around or on which something is formed or shaped. US, countable, uncountable
- 7 A fungus that creates such furry growths. US, countable, uncountable
- 8 Earth, ground. UK, US, countable, dialectal, plural, uncountable
- 9 sculpture produced by molding wordnet
- 10 Something that is made in or shaped on a mold. US, countable, uncountable
- 11 a distinctive nature, character, or type wordnet
- 12 The shape or pattern of a mold. US, countable, uncountable
- 13 a dish or dessert that is formed in or on a mold wordnet
- 14 General shape or form. US, countable, uncountable
"the oval mold of her face"
- 15 a fungus that produces a superficial growth on various kinds of damp or decaying organic matter wordnet
- 16 Distinctive character or type. US, countable, uncountable
"a leader in the mold of her predecessors"
- 17 the process of becoming mildewed wordnet
- 18 A fixed or restrictive pattern or form. US, countable, uncountable
"His method of scientific investigation broke the mold and led to a new discovery."
- 19 the distinctive form in which a thing is made wordnet
- 20 A group of moldings. US, countable, uncountable
"the arch mold of a porch or doorway; the pier mold of a Gothic pier, meaning the whole profile, section, or combination of parts"
- 21 loose soil rich in organic matter wordnet
- 22 A fontanelle. US, countable, uncountable
Verb
- 1 To shape in or on a mold; to form into a particular shape; to give shape to. US, transitive
"Not only in formal discourse, but in the ordinary walks of life, a well-modulated, expressive voice is a most valuable asset, whether one’s object be to interest, persuade or convince, to give a command or entreat a favor. The moulding of the voice into finished articulate speech is a mechanism in which the entire oral cavity, including palate, teeth, tongue and lips, take an important part. As a result of either structural defect of these organs, or, as is more often the case, as a consequence of their imperfect innervation, various logopathies may occur, which profoundly affect the social status of the unfortunate individual and seriously embarrass his way to a successful career. Lisping, stuttering, stammering, lallation, nunnation and sigmatism, paragammacism and paralambdacism are but few of the locutory evils encountered, much too frequently in adolescents and adults. The fact that they are mostly amenable to treatment and may often be completely corrected, with proper attention and training, is something that needs to be more thoroughly impressed upon our educational bodies and sociologic reformers."
- 2 To cause to become moldy; to cause mold to grow upon. US, transitive
- 3 To cover with mold or soil. US
- 4 become moldy; spoil due to humidity wordnet
- 5 To guide or determine the growth or development of; influence US, transitive
"It is you who must mold the minds of your students that they may be wise, farsighted, intelligent, profound in their thinking, devoted to their country and government and fruitful in their work. It is you who must sense as the example."
Show 10 more definitions
- 6 To become moldy; to be covered or filled, in whole or in part, with a mold. US, intransitive
- 7 shape or influence; give direction to wordnet
- 8 To fit closely by following the contours of. US, transitive
- 9 fit tightly, follow the contours of wordnet
- 10 To make a mold of or from (molten metal, for example) before casting. US, transitive
- 11 make something, usually for a specific function wordnet
- 12 To ornament with moldings. US, transitive
- 13 form by pouring (e.g., wax or hot metal) into a cast or mold wordnet
- 14 To be shaped in or as if in a mold. US, intransitive
"These shoes gradually molded to my feet."
- 15 form in clay, wax, etc wordnet
Proper Noun
- 1 A town and community in and the county town of Flintshire, Wales (OS grid ref SJ2364).
- 2 An unincorporated community in Douglas County, Washington, United States.
- 3 A surname.
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
"Education helps to mold character."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "mold"?
Common synonyms include: cast, accommodate, accommodate with, accord, acres, adapt.
How do you use "mold" in a sentence?
Education helps to mold character.
How do you pronounce "mold"?
Pronounced /moʊld/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English molde (“mold, cast”), from Old French modle, mole, from Latin modulus, from Latin modus. Doublet of module, modulus, and model.
Etymology 2
From Middle English mowlde, noun use and alteration of mowled, past participle of mowlen, moulen (“to grow moldy”), from Old Norse mygla (compare dialectal Danish mugle), from Proto-Germanic *muglōną, diminutive and denominative of *mukiz 'soft substance' (compare Old Norse myki, mykr (“cow dung”)), from Proto-Indo-European *mewk- (“slick, soft”). More at muck and meek.
Etymology 3
From Middle English molde, from Old English molde, from Proto-Germanic *muldō (“dirt, soil”) (compare Old Frisian molde, Middle Dutch moude, Dutch moude, obsolete German Molte, Norwegian Bokmål mold, and Gothic 𐌼𐌿𐌻𐌳𐌰 (mulda)), from Proto-Indo-European *ml̥h₂-téh₂ (compare Ashkun mič, Kamkata-viri muři, mřey, mřëi, Prasuni mire, Waigali muk, all meaning "clay").
Etymology 4
From Middle English molde (“top of the head”), from Old English molda, molde, from Proto-West Germanic *moldō, from Proto-Indo-European *ml̥Hdʰṓ; exactly parallel to Sanskrit मूर्धन् (mūrdhán).