Pronunciation guide: IPA symbols, stress and word endings

θ	thin	ð	this	ʃ	she	ʒ	measure
tʃ	church	dʒ	judge	ŋ	sing	j	yes

p b t d k g f v s z h m n l r w sound as in ordinary English spelling.

ˈ main stress, before the stressed syllable: /ˈwɔːtə/ water · ˌ lighter (secondary) stress: /ˌʌndəˈstænd/ understand
ː a long vowel · (r) an r said only in accents that pronounce it (most American, Scottish, Irish)

-s / -es (plurals; he/she form of verbs): /s/ after voiceless sounds (cats), /z/ after voiced (dogs), /ɪz/ after s, z, sh, ch, j sounds (buses, watches). Spelling: -es after s, x, z, ch, sh; consonant + y → -ies (city → cities).
-ed (past): /t/ after voiceless sounds (walked), /d/ after voiced (played), /ɪd/ after t or d (wanted). Spelling: love → loved, stop → stopped, carry → carried.
-ing: make → making, run → running, see → seeing.
Irregular: go, went, gone · be, was, been · see, saw, seen · man → men · child → children · mouse → mice.
Older (King James) forms: -eth = -s (he loveth = he loves) · -est with “thou” (thou lovest) · spake = spoke.

mothball

UK /ˈmɒθbɔːl/ · US /ˈmɔθˌbɔl/ noun, verb

Forms mothballs mothballing mothballed moth-ball moth ball

noun (chiefly in the plural) A small ball of chemical pesticide (originally camphor and now typically naphthalene or paradichlorobenzene) and deodorant placed in or around clothing and other articles to deter moth larvae which may damage them.
verb To store (clothing, etc.) with mothballs (noun sense 1).
verb To stop using (something), and often to put it in storage; specifically, while keeping it in good condition so it can be used in the future. “They mothballed the old version after the new one came out.”
verb To stop work on (a plan, project, etc.) for the time being; to postpone, to shelve.

Synonyms

The noun is derived from moth + ball. The verb is derived from the noun.

Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 — from the Wiktionary entry “mothball”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details