What does "mole" mean?
A naevus, a pigmented, slightly raised, and sometimes hairy spot on the skin.
Mole
/mɒʊl/ name, noun, verb, slang
name, noun, verb, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A naevus, a pigmented, slightly raised, and sometimes hairy spot on the skin.
- Grammar: mole is listed as name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: abutment, amount unit, anchorage, anchorage ground.
- Useful contrasts: outsider.
- Usage evidence: The dead body was identified by a mole on the cheek.
How to use "mole"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "mole" 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 "mole" 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 "mole" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "mole" 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 "mole" is acting as name, noun, verb, slang 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 "abutment" 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 "mole", 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 naevus, a pigmented, slightly raised, and sometimes hairy spot on the skin.
- 2 Any of several small, burrowing, insectivorous mammals of the family Talpidae.
- 3 A moll, a bitch, a slut. Australia, New-Zealand, derogatory, slang
- 4 A massive structure, usually of stone, used as a pier, breakwater or junction between places separated by water.
"[Alexander the Great] then conceived the stupendous idea of constructing a mole, which should at once connect [Tyre] with the main land; and this was actually accomplished by driving piles and pouring in incalculable quantities of soil and fragments of rock; and it is generally believed, partly on the authority of ancient authors, that the whole ruins of Old Tyre were absorbed in this vast enterprize, and buried in the depths of the sea [...]"
- 5 In the International System of Units, the base unit of amount of substance; the amount of substance of a system which contains exactly 6.02214076×10²³ elementary entities (atoms, ions, molecules, etc.). Symbol: mol. The number of atoms is known as Avogadro’s number.
Show 14 more definitions
- 6 A hemorrhagic mass of tissue in the uterus caused by a dead ovum.
- 7 Any of several spicy sauces typical of the cuisine of Mexico and neighboring Central America countries, especially one that contains chocolate and is used in cooking main dishes, not desserts. countable, uncountable
- 8 small velvety-furred burrowing mammal having small eyes and fossorial forefeet wordnet
- 9 Any of the burrowing rodents also called mole-rats.
- 10 A haven or harbour, protected with such a breakwater. rare
- 11 a protective structure of stone or concrete; extends from shore into the water to prevent a beach from washing away wordnet
- 12 An internal spy; a person who involves themself with an enemy organisation, especially an intelligence or governmental organisation, to determine and betray its secrets from within.
- 13 An Ancient Roman mausoleum. historical
- 14 a small congenital pigmented spot on the skin wordnet
- 15 A kind of self-propelled excavator used to form underground drains, or to clear underground pipelines.
- 16 spicy sauce often containing chocolate wordnet
- 17 A type of underground drain used in farm fields, in which a mole plow creates an unlined channel through clay subsoil.
- 18 a spy who works against enemy espionage wordnet
- 19 the molecular weight of a substance expressed in grams; the basic unit of amount of substance adopted under the Systeme International d'Unites wordnet
Verb
- 1 To create a network of channels in (waterlogged soil) to improve drainage. transitive
Proper Noun
- 1 A river in Surrey, England, tributary to the Thames.
- 2 A river in Devon, England, tributary to the Taw.
- 3 A surname.
Synonyms
All synonymsAntonyms
Example
"The dead body was identified by a mole on the cheek."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "mole"?
Common synonyms include: abutment, amount unit, anchorage, anchorage ground, animal, antelope.
How do you use "mole" in a sentence?
The dead body was identified by a mole on the cheek.
How do you pronounce "mole"?
Pronounced /mɒʊl/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English mole, mool, from Old English māl (“a mole, spot, mark, blemish”), from Proto-West Germanic *mail, from Proto-Germanic *mailą (“spot, wrinkle”), from Proto-Indo-European *mel-, *melw- (“dark, dirty”), from Proto-Indo-European *mey-, *my- (“to soil, sully”). Cognate with Scots mail (“spot, stain”), Saterland Frisian Moal (“scar”), German dialectal Meil (“spot, stain, blemish”), Gothic 𐌼𐌰𐌹𐌻 (mail, “spot, blemish”).
Etymology 2
From Middle English molle, molde, mole (“mole”), ultimately from Proto-West Germanic *mol(h), from Proto-Germanic *mulaz, *mulhaz (“mole, salamander”), from Proto-Indo-European *molg-, *molk- (“slug, salamander”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)melw- (“to grind, crush, beat”). Cognate with North Frisian mull (“mole”), Saterland Frisian Molle (“mole”), Dutch mol (“mole”), German Low German Mol, Mul, Mull (“mole”), German Molch (“salamander, newt”), Old Russian смолжь (smolžʹ, “snail”), Czech mlž (“clam”). Derivation as an abbreviation of Middle English molewarpe, a variation of moldewarpe, moldwerp (“mole”) in Middle English is unexplained and probably unlikely due to the simultaneous occurrence of both words. See mouldwarp.
Etymology 3
From moll (from Moll, an archaic nickname for Mary), influenced by the spelling of the word mole (“an internal spy”), and due to /mɒl/ and /məʊl/ merging as [ˈmɔʊɫ] in the Australian accent.
Etymology 4
From French môle or Latin mōles (“mass, heap, rock”).
Etymology 5
Calqued from German Mol; spelled as if it had come directly from molecule or Latin moles (the ultimate source of Mol and molecule in any event).
Etymology 6
In English since before the 20th century. From French môle f, from Latin mola (“millstone”), because it is a hardened mass.
Etymology 7
From Spanish mole, from Classical Nahuatl mōlli (“sauce; stew; something ground”).
Etymology 8
From Latin mola (“mill”), or otherwise a back-formation from Molesey (“Mul's Island”).