You searched for: “molt”
moat, molt, mote
moat (MOHT) (noun)
A wide and deep ditch, usually filled with water, surrounding a medieval town or fortress for protection against attacks; part of the defense system of any fortified place: The hero swam across the moat in order to reach the castle and rescue the captive princess.
molt (MOHLT) (verb)
To shed or to cast off a covering of hair, feathers, skin, etc. which is then replaced with new growth in the same place: The new chicks will molt their fluffy yellow down which will then be superseded by darker adult plumage.

Snakes molt as they grow, shedding their old overlapping scales and regenerating new and larger ones.

mote (MOHT) (noun)
A tiny speck or particle of dust, dirt, etc.: Philip likes to watch the mote dance in the sunbeam coming through his window.

Against the sunlight, Brian could see the dust mote settling onto the water of the moat. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched the ducks, that were swimming on the moat, molt their winter feathers.

This entry is located in the following unit: Confusing Words Clarified: Group M; Homonyms, Homophones, Homographs, Synonyms, Polysemes, etc. + (page 4)
molt (verb), molts; molted; molting
1. To lose or change a covering of skin, hair, feathers, etc. and to replace them with new growth in the same places: Snakes mold as they grow larger, shedding the old skin and growing larger new skin.
2. Etymology: from Latin mutare, "to change".
This entry is located in the following unit: mut- (page 1)
A unit related to: “molt”
apodyso-, -apodys-; -dyso, -dys, -dysis; -ecdysi-
(Greek: undress, disrobe; take off, strip, lay bare; shed, molt)
Word Entries at Get Words: “molt”
molt, moult
1. The casting off of the outgrown skin or exoskeleton in the process of growth; also, the cast-off skin itself.
2. To shed feathers, hair, or skin periodically; especially, seasonally, in order to allow replacement of what is lost with new growth.
This entry is located in the following unit: Ant and Related Entomology Terms (page 12)