moisten
902
This cake's nice and moist. | to plant flowers in the rich moist
earth -> see DAMP (USAGE) —ly adv —ness n [U]
mois·ten /'mɔɪsən/ v [I;T] to make or become moist: She
moistened a tissue and gently wiped the dust off the necklace. |
His eyes moistened slightly. (=he was perhaps going to cry)
mois·ture /'mɔɪstʃər/ n [U] water, or other liquids, in small
quantities or in the form of steam or mist: The desert air
contains hardly any moisture.
mois·tur·ize also -ise BrE /'mɔɪstʃəraɪz/ v [T] to remove the
dryness from: to use moisturizing cream on one's hands
—izer n
Mo·ja·ve Des·ert, Mohave Desert, the /məʊˌhɑvi
'dezət||-zərt/ a large desert in southern California. DEATH
VALLEY, the lowest point in the US, is found in the Mojave
Desert.
moke /məʊk/ n BrE infml, especially humor for horse or DONKEY
mo·lar /'məʊlər/ n any of the large teeth at the back of the
mouth used for breaking up food -> see also INCISOR
mo·las·ses /mə'læsɪz/ n [U] 1 a thick dark sweet liquid
produced from sugar plants 2 AmE for TREACLE
mold /məʊld/ n, v AmE for MOULD
mol·der /'məʊldər/ v [I] AmE for MOULDER
mold·ing /'məʊldɪŋ/ n [C;U] AmE for MOULDING
Mol·do·va /mɒl'dəʊvə||maɪl-/ a country in Eastern Europe
between Romania and Ukraine, which used to be part of the
former SOVIET UNION. Population: 4,439,502 (2003). Capital:
Chișinău. —Moldovan n, adj
mold·y /'məʊldi/ adj AmE for MOULDY —iness n [U]
mole¹ /məʊl/ n 1 a small
furry, almost blind, animal
that digs holes and passages
underground to live in. One
of the characters in THE WIND
IN THE WILLOWS a children's
story by Kenneth Grahame,
is a mole. 2 infml a person
who works inside an organi-
zation, usually for a long
time, in order to provide
secret information to the
enemy: They've discovered a mole at the Foreign Office. ->
compare SPY¹
mole
mole² n a small dark brown slightly raised mark on a person's
skin, usually there since birth -> compare FRECKLE
Mole, A·dri·an /'eɪdriən/ the main character in a series of
humorous British books written by Sue Townsend, the first of
which was The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13¾ (1982).
Each book is in the form of a DIARY in which Adrian writes
about his daily life and thoughts. He describes many of the
emotional problems that are typical of people his age.
mol·e·cule /'mɒlɪkjuːl||'mɑː-/ n the smallest unit into
which any substance can be divided without losing its own
chemical nature, consisting usually of two or more atoms: a
hydrogen molecule —cular /mə'lekjʊlər/ adj: molecular
structure
mole·hill /'məʊlˌhɪl/ n a small pile of earth thrown up on
the surface by a mole digging underground -> see also make
a mountain out of a molehill (MOUNTAIN)
mole·skin /'məʊlˌskɪn/ n [U] the fur of a mole; or a type of
strong cotton cloth looking rather like this, used, especially
in former times, for making clothes: moleskin trousers
mo·lest /mə'lest/ v [T] 1 derog to attack and harm: A dog
that molests sheep has to be killed. 2 sometimes euph to annoy
or attack (especially a woman or a child) sexually —er n:
The child molester was imprisoned for five years. —ation
/ˌməʊlə'steɪʃən/ n [U]
Mol·i·ère /'mɒli'eə||məʊl'jer/ (1622-73) a French actor and
writer of plays whose real name was Jean-Baptiste Poquelin.
He is best known as a writer of comedies (COMEDY) that
make fun of human behaviour, such as Le Misanthrope,
Tartuffe, and Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme.
moll /mɒl||mɑːl/ n slang a criminal's girlfriend: a gangster's
moll
Moll 'Flanders the main character in the book The Fortunes
and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders written in 1722
by Daniel DEFOE. Moll tells the story of her marriages, sexual
relationships, and crimes in an amusing way that makes the
reader feel sympathy for her.
mol·li·fy /'mɒlɪfaɪ||'mɑː-/ v [T] to make (a person or a
person's feelings) less angry: He bought his angry wife some
flowers, but she refused to be mollified. —fication
/ˌmɒlɪfɪ'keɪʃən||mɑː-/ n [U]
mol·lusc || also mollusk AmE /'mɒləsk||'mɑː-/ n any of a
class of animals which have soft bodies without a backbone
or limbs and are usually covered with a shell: Snails and
octopuses are molluscs.
mol·ly·cod·dle /'mɒliˌkɒd||'mɑːliˌkɑːdl/ v [T] infml, usually
derog to take too much care of (a person or animal); show too
much concern for the health and comfort of: My mother still
tries to mollycoddle me.
Mol·ly Ma·guires, the /ˌmɒli mə'gwaɪəz||ˌmɑːli
mə'gwaɪərz/ n a 19th-century secret organization of Irish
Americans in the coal-producing area of Pennsylvania, US,
which used often violent means to try to improve working
conditions
Mo·loch /'məʊlɒk||-lɑːk/ a god in some ancient religions,
mentioned in the old Testament of the Bible, for whom
children were killed as a SACRIFICE
Mol·o·tov cock·tail /ˌmɒlətɒf 'kɒkteɪl||ˌmɑːlətɔːf 'kɑːk-,
ˌmɔːl-/ n [C] a simple bomb consisting of a bottle filled with
petrol with a piece of cloth at the end
molt /məʊlt/ v, n AmE for MOULT
mol·ten /'məʊltən/ adj (of metal or rock) turned to liquid by
very great heat; melted: The volcano threw out molten lava.
-> see MELT (USAGE)
mol·to /'mɒltəʊ||'mɑːl-, 'mɔːl-/ adv (in music) very: molto
allegro (=very quickly)
mo·lyb·de·num /mə'lɪbdənəm/ n [U] a silver-white metal
that is a simple substance (ELEMENT) used especially for
strengthening steel
mom /mɒm||mɑːm/ n AmE for MUM
MOMA /'məʊmə/ abbrev. for the MUSEUM OF MODERN ART in
New York City
mom-and-pop adj AmE (of a small business) owned and
operated by a family or husband and wife: a mom-and-pop
bakery
mo·ment /'məʊmənt/ n 1 [C] a very short period of time:
Can I speak to you for a moment? | It will only take a
moment/a few moments. | I'll be ready in a moment. (=very
soon) | Just a moment (=wait); I want to have a word with
you. | I wasn't fooled for a moment. (=at all) | He wrote the book
at odd moments. (=short periods of free time) -> see also
MOMENTARY 2 [C] a particular point in time: Just at that
moment, the door opened and the inspector walked in. | It's
impossible to get a decision out of David; he changes his mind
from one moment to the next. (=frequently) | He's only just this
moment left the office, Mrs Lee. (=he left a few seconds ago) | I
cannot give you any answer at this moment in time. (=now) |
one of those magic moments in a love affair 3 [C usually sing.]
the time for doing something: Choose your moment carefully
if you want to ask her for a pay rise. | [+to-v] This is not the
(best) moment to tell him the news. 4 [of+U] old-fash fml impor-
tance: The president will speak to the nation tonight on a
matter of the greatest moment. -> see also MOMEN-
TOUS 5 [C[of] usually sing.] tech (a measure of) the turning
power of a force 6 at any moment at an unknown time
but only a little after the present: Be careful - he might come back
at any moment! 7 at the last moment only just in time; just
before the start of an activity: He's never late, but he often
arrives at the very last moment. 8 at the moment at the
present time; now: I'm busy at the moment, but I'll do it
later. 9 for the moment as far as the present time is
concerned (although perhaps not later); for now: For the
moment we are content to watch and wait. 10 have one's/its
moments infml to have times of being important, successful,
happy etc: It was a dull film on the whole, though it had its
moments. 11 the moment (that) as soon as: I recognized her
the moment (that) I saw her. -> see also on the spur of the
moment (SPUR¹) 12 the moment of truth the moment that
will show whether something is going to work or not
mo·men·tar·i·ly /'məʊməntərɪli||ˌmoʊmən'terɪli/
adv 1 for just a very short time: He was so surprised that he