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# moult

«moult» in Mova's school dictionary: **To lose feathers, fur, hair or skin so that new ones can…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 1 sentence of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

verb (moult, moults, moulted, moulting) — US spelling: molt; noun (a moult)

### meaning for a pupil

1) (of a bird, animal or insect) To lose feathers, fur, hair or skin so that new ones can grow. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/moult/#m1)

2) Noun: the time or act of moulting. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/moult/#m2)

### sense in the lessons

In science lessons about life cycles: birds moult feathers, dogs moult hair, snakes shed skin, and insects and crabs moult their hard outer skeleton to grow bigger. Pet owners notice moulting when there is fur everywhere.

### examples

- Our dog moults every spring. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/moult/#x1)
- The chicken is moulting, so she has fewer feathers. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/moult/#x2)
- A caterpillar moults several times before it makes a chrysalis. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/moult/#x3)
- Crabs moult their shells to grow. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/moult/#x4)
- There was cat hair all over the sofa during the moult. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/moult/#x5)
- Snakes moult their whole skin at once. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/moult/#x6)

### note

UK, Ireland, Australia, NZ: moult; US: molt. Canada uses both. A moulting animal is usually not ill — it is normal. Close word: shed.

### In the corpora

- [Insects and spiders must moult their hard outer skeleton to grow.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/72-insects-and-spiders/11/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «moult» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/moult/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.