1 [C] a container that you pour a soft liquid or substance into, which then becomes solid in the same shape as the container, for example when it is cooled or cooked:
A clay mould is used for casting bronze statues. * Pour the chocolate into a heart-shaped mould. * They broke the mould when they made you (= there is nobody like you).
2 [C,usually sing.] a particular style showing the characteristics, attitudes or behaviour that are typical of sb/sth:
a hero in the 'Superman' mould * He is cast in a different mould from his predecessor. * She doesn't fit (into) the traditional mould of an academic. * She is a prolific writer in the same mould as Agatha Christie.
3 [U,C] a fine soft green, grey or black substance like fur that grows on old food or on objects that are left in warm wet air:
There's mould on the cheese. * moulds and fungi * mould growth * The room smelled damp and there was mould on one wall.
seealsoLEAFMOULD
IDIOMS
break the mould (of sth) to change what people expect from a situation, especially by acting in a dramatic and original way:
She succeeded in breaking the mould of political leadership.
