moulder

Continue to cultivate the mind, to sharpen by exercise the genius, to attempt to delight or to instruct your race; and even supposing you fall short of every model you set before you -- supposing your name moulder with your dust, still yon will have passed life more nobly than the unlaborious herd.

Ernest Maltravers — Volume 05 Edward Bulwer Lytton Lytton 1838

Continue to cultivate the mind, to sharpen by exercise the genius, to attempt to delight or to instruct your race; and even supposing you fall short of every model you set before you -- supposing your name moulder with your dust, still you will have passed life more nobly than the unlaborious herd.

Ernest Maltravers — Complete Edward Bulwer Lytton Lytton 1838

Her husband -- ten years deceased -- had been a 'moulder'; he earned on an average between three and four pounds a week, and was so prudently disposed that, for the last decade of his life, he made it a rule never to spend a farthing of his wages.

The Nether World George Gissing 1880

"one of those muddle-headed, stupid yokels with little or no mind," who, according to the townsman, "moulder" in country villages "till they become demented."

The Adventure of Living : a Subjective Autobiography John St. Loe Strachey 1893

"They are now beautifully lit, with wine wonderfully displayed and not left to moulder."

The Evolution of the Wine Cellar Jemima Sissons 2010

I was surprised when I started reading A Dash of Style, because often – too often – I buy books that sound good, then leave them to moulder on my shelf when I realize the content is beyond boring.

Writer Unboxed » Blog Archive » Interview: Noah Lukeman on “A Dash of Style” 2009

The point of the poem is that death awaits all, regardless of station: "And the young and the old, and the low and the high / Shall moulder to dust, and together shall lie."

With Death on His Mind John J. Miller 2012

He will now probably moulder away a few remaining wretched years in prison.

Robert Morris Charles Rappleye 2010

He will now probably moulder away a few remaining wretched years in prison.

Robert Morris Charles Rappleye 2010

Flickr user Sweet Juniper has a heartbreaking, gorgeous and horrifying set of photos of a rotting Detroit school book depository, where mountains of yellowing, damp, torn schoolbooks moulder, right in the middle of town:

Boing Boing 2008