a mold

Meanings

1. 1nouncountable

   A hollow container used to give a soft or liquid material a particular shape while it hardens.

   Grammar: Countable: you can say 'a mold', 'two molds', or 'the mold'.

   Patterns

   • a mold for something
   • pour something into a mold
   • in a mold

   She poured the melted chocolate into a heart-shaped mold.

   The factory uses steel molds to make car parts.

   Leave the jelly in the mold until it is completely firm.

2. 2nouncountable or uncountablebiology

   A fine, soft fungus that grows on old food or in damp places and can be harmful.

   Grammar: Can be countable when you mean a type: 'a blue mold'. Often uncountable: 'covered in mold'.

   Patterns

   • grow mold
   • mold grows on something
   • covered in mold

   There was a green mold growing on the bread.

   You should throw away cheese that has a fuzzy mold on it.

   Damp bathrooms often get black mold on the walls.

Word forms

Common combinations

a cake mold

I bought a silicone cake mold for making small muffins.

mold grows on something

Mold grows quickly on fruit in warm, wet weather.

break the mold

Her new design really breaks the mold.

cast in a mold

The statue was cast in a mold made of clay.

Synonyms and how they differ

cast

A cast is the object produced by a mold, not the container itself; use 'cast' for the result, 'mold' for the shape.

fungus

Fungus is a broader scientific term that includes mushrooms and yeast, while mold is a specific type of fuzzy fungus.

Word family

moldy adjective

Covered with or smelling of mold.

molding noun

A decorative strip of wood or stone, or the process of shaping something in a mold.

moldable adjective

Easy to shape or influence.

Commonly confused: a mold or mould? a mold or molt?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “a mold”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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