mould

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
mould1 (US mold)

▶noun

• 1 a hollow container used to give shape to molten or hot liquid material when it cools and hardens.

• 2 a dish made in a mould, such as a mousse.

• 3 a distinctive form, style, or character: a superb striker in the same mould as Lineker.

• 4 a frame or template for producing mouldings.

▶verb

• 1 form (an object) out of a malleable substance.

  ■ give a shape to (a malleable substance).

• 2 influence the formation or development of.

• 3 (as adj. moulded) (of a column, ceiling, etc.) having a decorative moulding: a moulded cornice.

– phrases
break the mould end a restrictive pattern of events or behaviour by doing things differently.

– derivatives
mouldable adjective,
moulder noun.

– origin ME: appar. from OFr. modle, from L. modulus (see modulus).

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
mould2 (US mold)

▶noun a furry growth of minute fungi occurring typically in moist warm conditions on organic matter.

■ a fungus of this kind.

– origin ME: prob. from obs. mould, past part. of moul ‘grow mouldy’, of Scand. origin.

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
mould3 (US mold)

▶noun chiefly Brit. soft loose earth, especially when rich in organic matter.

– origin OE molde, from a Gmc base meaning ‘pulverize or grind’; rel. to meal2.