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PlainSpell

mold

/moʊld/noun, verb

mold is spelled M-O-L-D: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 5.9 times per million words in written English, the 10,028th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, mold means “A hollow form or matrix for shaping a fluid or plastic substance” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of mold is molds.

How many letters and syllables are in mold?

Letters4: M-O-L-D
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing5.9 times per million words; the 10,028th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is mold?

Mold appears 5.9 times per million words in written English, the 10,028th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce mold?

  • UK /məʊld/
  • UK /mɔʊld/
  • US /moʊld/

Mold has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-mould.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with mold

Also written: molding.

Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

What rhymes with mold?

The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as mold from its last stressed vowel (/oʊld/):

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of mold

  • molds plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • mould
  • molding participle, present
  • molded participle, past
  • mool

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does mold mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    USA hollow form or matrix for shaping a fluid or plastic substance.

  2. 2

    USA frame or model around or on which something is formed or shaped.

  3. 3

    USSomething that is made in or shaped on a mold.

  4. 4

    USThe shape or pattern of a mold.

  5. 5

    USGeneral shape or form.

    the oval mold of her face

  6. 6

    USDistinctive character or type.

    a leader in the mold of her predecessors

  7. 7

    USA fixed or restrictive pattern or form.

    His method of scientific investigation broke the mold and led to a new discovery.

  8. 8

    USA group of moldings.

    the arch mold of a porch or doorway;  the pier mold of a Gothic pier, meaning the whole profile, section, or combination of parts

  9. 9

    USA natural substance in the form of a furry or woolly growth of tiny fungi that appears when organic material lies for a long time exposed to (usually warm and moist) air.

    She took the cheese out of the refrigerator and inspected it for mold.

  10. 10

    USA fungus that creates such furry growths.

  11. 11

    USLoose friable soil, rich in humus and fit for planting.

  12. 12

    UKUSEarth, ground.

  13. 13

    USobsoleteThe top or crown of the head.

verb

  1. 1

    USTo shape in or on a mold; to form into a particular shape; to give shape to.

    Your hands shaped me and made me … Remember that you molded me like clay.

  2. 2

    USTo guide or determine the growth or development of; influence

    It is you who must mold the minds of your students that they may be wise, farsighted, intelligent, profound in their thinking, devoted to their country and government and fruitful in their work. It is you who must sense as the example.

  3. 3

    USTo fit closely by following the contours of.

  4. 4

    USTo make a mold of or from (molten metal, for example) before casting.

  5. 5

    USTo ornament with moldings.

  6. 6

    USTo be shaped in or as if in a mold.

    These shoes gradually molded to my feet.

  7. 7

    USTo cause to become moldy; to cause mold to grow upon.

  8. 8

    USTo become moldy; to be covered or filled, in whole or in part, with a mold.

  9. 9

    USTo cover with mold or soil.

noun

as MoLD
  1. 1

    informalAcronym of Moon landing denial.

  2. 2

    informalAcronym of Moon landing denier.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Mold in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchmoule (hollow form or matrix for shaping a fluid or…), moisissure f moisi, mildiou (furry or woolly growth of tiny fungi)
GermanForm, Gussform (hollow form or matrix for shaping a fluid or…), Rahmen, Gestell, Modell, Figur (frame or model)
Portuguesemolde (hollow form or matrix for shaping a fluid or…), mofo, bolor (furry or woolly growth of tiny fungi), moldar, modelar (To shape in or on a mold), moldar-se a (To be shaped in or as if in a mold)
Spanishmolde, troquel, pascón, pazcón (hollow form or matrix for shaping a fluid or…), moldear, moldar (To shape in or on a mold)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does mold come from?

From Middle English molde (“mold, cast”), from Old French modle, mole, from Latin modulus, from Latin modus. Doublet of module, modulus, and model.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

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