or Molting, the falling off or change of hair, feathers, skins, horns, or other parts of animals, happening in some annually, and in others only at certain stages of life. The generality of animals moult in the spring. The moulting of a hawk is called mewing. The moulting of a deer is the shedding of his horns in February or March. The moulting of a serpent is the peeling off of his skin.