moulding

moulding — noun

1. a long, narrow strip of material such as wood, plastic, or stone that is attache

1.nounB2
Definition

a long, narrow strip of material such as wood, plastic, or stone that is attached to a surface — for instance, where a wall meets the ceiling or floor, around the edges of a door or window, or along the front of a piece of furniture — to give it a neat, finished look

Example

Quinn fixed a wooden moulding along the top of the living room wall.

material + location: wooden moulding along [surface]

Ornate plaster mouldings were installed around all the door frames in the old hotel.

passive: mouldings were installed around [structure]

Common collocations
  • crown moulding
  • base moulding
  • decorative moulding
  • plaster moulding
  • wooden moulding
  • plastic moulding
  • carved moulding
  • picture-rail moulding
  • strip of moulding
  • piece of moulding
Synonyms
  • trim

    more general term that includes any finishing strip, not just decorative profiles

  • cornice

    specifically refers to moulding at the junction of a wall and ceiling

  • beading

    refers to a narrow, rounded moulding that looks like a line of small beads

  • coving

    a curved moulding that hides the joint between wall and ceiling

Grammar Patterns

moulding + of + material

moulding + along/around + surface

Usage Note

Frequently used as an uncountable mass noun to describe the decorative feature in general (e.g., "The room has ornate moulding") or as a countable noun for individual strips (e.g., "We need three mouldings for this window"). In American English the spelling is normally molding.

Common Mistakes

I need to replace the mould around the window.
I need to replace the moulding around the window.
'mould' (UK) / 'mold' (US) is a hollow container for shaping or a type of fungus; 'moulding' is the decorative strip itself.
They are moulding the ceiling last week.
They installed the moulding on the ceiling last week.
'mould' (verb) means to shape; 'moulding' (noun) is the strip. Do not use 'moulding' as a verb form meaning 'shaped'.

Word family

  • mould
    verbB2
  • mould
    nounB2
  • moulded
    adjectiveB2
  • remould
    verbC1

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All four words refer to types of decorative strips, but they differ in specificity and location. Trim is the broadest term — it includes any finishing strip or edging on a surface, whether decorative or purely functional. Cornice specifically names the moulding at the top of a wall where it meets the ceiling; it is usually larger and more ornate than other types. Beading refers to narrow, rounded moulding that often looks like a series of small spheres or oval shapes; it is common on furniture edges and picture frames. Coving is a concave, curved moulding used to hide the joint between wall and ceiling, popular in mid-century interiors. If you are describing a simple protective edge on a door, use trim. If you mean the elaborate strip where the wall meets the ceiling, use cornice. For a thin rounded detail on a cabinet door, use beading.

trim ↗cornicebeadingcoving

Common collocations

Nouns

Phrases

  • strip of moulding
  • piece of moulding
  • run of moulding
  • length of moulding

Prepositions

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

Moulding comes from the verb mould (to shape), which entered English from Old French modle (a model or pattern), itself from Latin modulus, a small measure or standard. The -ing suffix turns the verb into a noun that describes the thing produced by the shaping process. Since the decorative strips are shaped from materials like wood, plaster, or stone, they were called mouldings — the shaped pieces. The spelling with -ou- is the British standard; American English prefers molding.