mothbally en · ADJ
Etymology
From mothball + -y.
Meanings
-
Resembling or suggesting mothballs, especially their distinctive odour.
A skinny blotter paper suffused with the rosy chemical geraniol and layered with a second blotter dipped in mothbally indole yields lily of the valley, which otherwise would require bales of tender white buds for just a few grams of essential oil.
2009 March 13, Phoebe Eaton, “Liquid Assets”, in New York Times:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| most mothbally | Degree=Sup | lexicographic | |
| more mothbally | Degree=Cmp | lexicographic |