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molt

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To molt is to shed outer skin, hair, feathers or other outer layer to make room for new growth.

(verb)

When a snake sheds its skin to grow a new layer of skin, this is an example of when the snake molts.

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See molt in Webster's New World College Dictionary

intransitive verb

to cast off or shed the exoskeleton, hair, outer skin, horns, or feathers at certain intervals, prior to replacement of the castoff parts by a new growth: said of reptiles, birds, insects, etc.

Origin: ME mouten (with unhistoric -l- after fault, in which the letter was orig. silent) < OE (be)mutian, to exchange < L mutare, to change: see mutate

transitive verb

to replace by molting

noun

the act or process of molting
the parts so shed

Related Forms:

molter noun

See molt in American Heritage Dictionary 4

verb molt·ed, molt·ing, molts

verb, intransitive

To shed periodically part or all of a coat or an outer covering, such as feathers, cuticle, or skin, which is then replaced by a new growth.

verb, transitive

To shed or cast off (a bodily covering).

noun

The act or process of molting.
The material cast off during molting.

Origin:

Origin: Alteration of Middle English mouten

Origin: , from Old English -mūtian (in bemūtian, to exchange for)

Origin: , from Latin mūtāre, to change; see mei-¹ in Indo-European roots

.

Related Forms:

moltˈer noun

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