Moult
//moʊlt// name, noun, verb
name, noun, verb ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 The process of shedding or losing a covering of fur, feathers or skin etc.
"Some birds change colour during their winter moult."
- 2 periodic shedding of the cuticle in arthropods or the outer skin in reptiles wordnet
- 3 The skin or feathers cast off during the process of moulting.
Verb
- 1 To shed or lose a covering of hair or fur, feathers, skin, horns, etc, and replace it with a fresh one. intransitive
- 2 cast off hair, skin, horn, or feathers wordnet
- 3 To shed in such a manner. transitive
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname.
Example
More examples"But after the first or the second moult, definite wing-rudiments are visible in the form of outgrowths on the corners of the second and third thoracic segments."
Etymology
From Middle English mouten, from Old English *mutian (cf. bemutian), from Latin mūtō, mūtāre. Doublet of mute and mutate. Un-etymological ⟨l⟩ was introduced into the spelling by mistakenly assuming a French origin with -l- (compare fault, vault and solder with correctly restored etymological ⟨l⟩).
Related phrases
More for "moult"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.