“Molting” or “Moulting”—What's the difference?

Usage by country

Where each spelling is used

Of the 12 countries below, 6 prefer “molting” and 4 prefer “moulting”. Usage levels are out of 100; the more common spelling in each country is in bold.

Usage level out of 100 (if available).
Country	molting	moulting	Preference
United States	94	6	“molting”
United Kingdom	39	61	“moulting”
India	32	68	“moulting”
Philippines	91	9	“molting”
Canada	81	19	“molting”
Australia	52	48	“molting”
Liberia	100	0	“molting”
Ireland	56	44	“molting”
New Zealand	49	51	“moulting”
Jamaica	0	0	Not enough data
Trinidad & Tobago	47	53	“moulting”
Guyana	0	0	Not enough data

Usage

Examples in context

Real sentences for each spelling. Hover an example to copy it.

“molting”

…geese were easily captured when molting.
…interplay of juvenile hormone and molting hormone.
…one of the most common molting hormones in insects, crabs, and…
…unknown, but the range in molting times implies that this species…
…stages occur ashore (nesting or molting), and whether there are species…
…to facilitate basking and thermoregulation, molting, and antipredator defense.
…fracture lines that aided in molting (or sutures) follow the inside…
…larval instars, each succeeded by molting, they transform into pupae.
As in modern birds, molting individuals may have been present…
Shedding or molting

“moulting”

Moulting takes place over spring and
…for three to five years, moulting as many as ten times…
Immature males, after moulting from juvenile plumage, have patches…
After moulting, the resulting nymph also attaches…
…bay is a breeding and moulting area for the lesser white-fronted
…is shed with the first moulting.
…stages over 28–30 days before moulting to adulthood.
…to control than plumage, as moulting takes time and is controlled…
…their ability to fly after moulting their main wing and tail…
After moulting a few times, it spins…

Examples are Wikipedia snippets under the CC ShareAlike 3.0 license.

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