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Glite Dictionary
to mothball a project

to mothball a project

7.0
To stop work on a project for a time and start it again later
  • phrasal verb
  • /ˈmɔθˌbɔl ə ˈprɒdʒɛkt/
translation icon : suspender un proyecto
  • Due to budget cuts, the company decided to mothball the project until funding improved.

Examples

  • Sometimes it's more practical to mothball a project than to let it fail outright.

  • After several delays, the team had no choice but to mothball the project temporarily.

  • Don't mothball a project without discussing it first!

  • The team decided to mothball a project due to budget cuts.

  • Due to budget cuts, the company decided to mothball the project until funding improved.

  • After several delays, the team had no choice but to mothball the project temporarily.

  • Sometimes it's more practical to mothball a project than to let it fail outright.

Synonyms

to put on ice
vsto mothball a project
11 5.8

To delay a plan or project for a while

is expected to be resumed rather than left inactive indefinitely
to mothball
vsto mothball a project
7 7.2

To stop using something and keep it in storage for later use

is a temporary suspension rather than long term storage
to put on the back burner
vsto mothball a project
1 5.6

To delay dealing with something until later and make it less important

is postponed temporarily with clear intention to return to it
to bench the project
vsto mothball a project
6.3

To stop work on a project for a time until things change

is a temporary suspension intended to be resumed later
to punt the project
vsto mothball a project
  • Informal
8.8

Delay a project to work on more important tasks

is suspended temporarily with the aim of resuming later

Antonyms

to continue
∞ 1.0

To keep doing something without stopping

to resume
297 3.1

To start an activity again after a pause

How Active

to mothball a project
7.0
to abandon
401 3.8

Surface Forms

mothball a project infinitive
mothballed a project past
mothballed a project past participle
mothballing a project present participle
mothballs a project third person singular

Morphology

mothball + a + project

The verb 'mothball' already means to take something out of active use or put it into storage, so combining it with 'project' yields the straightforward sense 'to take a project out of active use / suspend it'. The indefinite article 'a' is semantically neutral, and the composition follows normal English verb + noun patterns, so a learner who knows the constituent words can infer the MWE meaning.

Etymology

Mothball a project comes from small balls called mothballs that people put with stored clothes to stop moths from eating them. Because mothballs keep things safe in storage, to mothball a project means 'to put the project away for now but keep it so you can start it again later'.