Mole

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /məʊl/, /mɔʊl/
• Estuary English IPA: /mÉ’ÊŠl/
• US IPA: /mol/, /moÊŠl/
• US IPA: /mlÌ©/
• Homophones: mull
• Rhymes: -əʊl

From Middle English mole, mool, from Old English māl, mǣl ("a mole, spot, mark, blemish"), from Proto-Germanic *mailą ("spot, wrinkle"), from Proto-Indo-European *mel-, *melw- ("dark, dirty"), from Proto-Indo-European *mey-, *my- ("to soil, sully"). Cognate with Scots mail ("spot, stain"), German dialectal Meil ("spot, stain, blemish"), Gothic (mail, "spot, blemish").

Full definition of mole

Noun

1. A pigmented spot on the skin, a naevus, slightly raised, and sometimes hairy.

Synonyms

• birthmark
• nevus, naevus, nævus

Related terms

• beauty mark

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /məʊl/
• Estuary English IPA: /mÉ’ÊŠl/
• US IPA: /mol/, /moÊŠl/
• Rhymes: -əʊl

From Middle English mol, molde, molle, from Old English *mol, from Proto-Germanic *mulaz, *mulhaz ("mole, salamander"), from Proto-Indo-European *molg-, *molk- ("slug, salamander"), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)melw- ("to grind, crush, beat"). Cognate with North Frisian mull ("mole"), Eastern Frisian molle ("mole"), Dutch mol ("mole"), Low German Mol, Mul ("mole"), German Molch ("salamander, newt"), Old Russian смолжь (smolzh, "snail"), Czech mlž ("clam").

Derivation as an abbreviation of Middle English molewarpe, a variation of moldewarpe, moldwerp ("mole") in Middle English is unexplained and probably unlikely due to the simultaneous occurrence of both words. See mouldwarp.

Alternative forms

• mool, moule, mowle, mold obsolete

Noun

1. Any of several small, burrowing insectivores of the family Talpidae.
2. Any of the burrowing rodents also called mole rats.
3. (espionage) An internal spy, a person who involves himself or herself with an enemy organisation, especially an intelligence or governmental organisation, to determine and betray its secrets from within.
4. A kind of self-propelled excavator used to form underground drains, or to clear underground pipelines

Derived terms

• golden mole
• mole crab
• mole cricket
• mole rat
• mole run
• mole salamander

Synonyms

• mouldwarp

Pronunciation

• Australia IPA: /moÊŠl/
• Rhymes: -əʊl

From moll (from Moll, an archaic nickname for Mary), influenced by the spelling of the word mole ("an internal spy"), and due to /mɒl/ and /məʊl/ merging as moʊl in the Australian accent.

Noun

1. A moll, a bitch, a slut.

Synonyms

• moll

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /məʊl/
• US IPA: /mol/, /moÊŠl/
• Rhymes: -əʊl

French môle or Latin mōles ("mass, heap, rock").

Noun

1. (nautical) A massive structure, usually of stone, used as a pier, breakwater or junction between places separated by water.mole (accessed: March 30, 2007)
• 1847 — George A. Fisk, A pastor's memorial of the holy landthe Great then conceived the stupendous idea of constructing a mole, which should at once connect Tyre with the main land; and this was actually accomplished by driving piles and pouring in incalculable quantities of soil and fragments of rock; and it is generally believed, partly on the authority of ancient authors, that the whole ruins of Old Tyre were absorbed in this vast enterprize, and buried in the depths of the sea ...
• 1983 — Archibald Lyall, Arthur Norman Brangham, The companion guide to the south of FranceSaint-Tropez Yachts and fishing boats fill the little square of water, which is surrounded on two sides by quays, on the third by a small ship-repairing yard and on the fourth by the mole where the fishing boats moor and the nets are spread out to dry.
2. (rare) A haven or harbour, protected with such a breakwater.

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /məʊl/
• US IPA: /mol/, /moÊŠl/
• Rhymes: -əʊl

(1897) German Mol.

Alternative forms

• mol (dated)

Noun

1. (chemistry, physics) In the International System of Units, the base unit of amount of substance; the amount of substance of a system which contains as many elementary entities as there are atoms in 0.012 kg of carbon-12. Symbol: mol. The number of atoms is known as Avogadro’s number

Synonyms

• gram molecule

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /məʊl/
• US IPA: /mol/, /moÊŠl/
• Rhymes: -əʊl

From Latin mola.

Noun

1. A hemorrhagic mass of tissue in the uterus caused by a dead ovum.

Pronunciation

• US IPA: /ˈmoÊŠleɪ/, /ˈmoÊŠli/

From Spanish, from Nahuatl mōlli ("sauce; stew; something ground").

Noun

1. One of several spicy sauces typical of the cuisine of Mexico and neighboring Central America, especially the sauce which contains chocolate and which is used in cooking main dishes, not desserts.mole (accessed: March 30, 2007)

Anagrams

• Elmo, Lomé