Mole Meaning
/məʊl/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounA naevus, a pigmented, slightly raised, and sometimes hairy spot on the skin.
nounAny of several small, burrowing, insectivorous mammals of the family Talpidae.
Sentence Examples
The dead body was identified by a mole on the cheek.
I'm troubled by this mole.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The small animal with big claws that digs tunnels, a ____, damaged the garden.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The scientist explained that the ____ is a very important unit of measurement used by chemists to count atoms and molecules.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English mole, mool, from Old English māl (“a mole, spot, mark, blemish”), from Proto-West Germanic *mail, 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”), Saterland Frisian Moal (“scar”), German dialectal Meil (“spot, stain, blemish”), Gothic 𐌼𐌰𐌹𐌻 (mail, “spot, blemish”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"[Alexander the 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 [...]"
— 1847, George A. Fisk, A pastor's memorial of the holy land:
"Its extreme downtown is the battery, where that noble mole is washed by waves, and cooled by breezes, which a few hours previous were out of sight of land."
— 1851, Herman Melville, Moby Dick, Chapter 1:
"Using the countless tons of rock from the cliff-face, supplemented by much more from inland, they threw out a huge breakwater, 2,000 ft. long and 80 ft. high, roughly at right angles to the quay, so forming an almost completely sheltered corner. Fifty years later, this massive mole is still standing up to the worst that the Irish Sea can do."
— 1956 September, F. F. Nicholls, “Neyland, A Forgotten Harbour”, in Railway Magazine, page 632:
"[about Saint-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."
— 1983, Archibald Lyall, Arthur Norman Brangham, The companion guide to the south of France:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The small animal with big claws that digs tunnels, a ____, damaged the garden.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The scientist explained that the ____ is a very important unit of measurement used by chemists to count atoms and molecules.