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maul

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: Maul

English

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A maul.

Etymology

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From Middle English malle (“mace, maul”), from Anglo-Norman mail, from Old French mail, from Latin malleus (“hammer”). Doublet of malleus.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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maul (plural mauls)

  1. A heavy long-handled hammer, used for splitting logs by driving a wedge into them, or in combat.
    Synonyms: club, mace
  2. (rugby) A situation where the player carrying the ball, who must be on his feet, is held by one or more opponents, and one or more of the ball carrier's team mates bind onto the ball carrier.
  3. (botany) The fruit of the Washingtonia species.

Hyponyms

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Derived terms

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Translations

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See also

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Verb

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maul (third-person singular simple present mauls, present participle mauling, simple past and past participle mauled)

  1. To handle someone or something in a rough way.
    Synonyms: abuse, mishandle, misuse
  2. (usually of an animal) To savage; to cause serious physical wounds.
    Synonyms: harm, wound; see also Thesaurus:harm
    The bear mauled him in a terrible way.
    • 2019 February 27, Drachinifel, 26:02 from the start, in The Battle of Samar - Odds? What are those?‎[1], archived from the original on 3 November 2022:
      The embattled heavy cruiser is not in immediate danger of sinking, but is being badly mauled.
    • 2025 September 22, Michael Levenson, “Tiger Handler Linked to Joe Exotic Is Fatally Mauled by Tiger”, in The New York Times‎[2], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC:
      A tiger handler who had acquired some of his tigers from the zoo owner known as Joe Exotic was fatally mauled on Saturday by a tiger at his family-run zoo in southeastern Oklahoma, the authorities said.
      (Can we archive this URL?)
  3. (figuratively) To criticise harshly.
    Synonyms: castigate, excoriate; see also Thesaurus:criticize
    The latest film by the Cohen brothers was mauled by the press, and was a box-office flop to boot.
  4. (transitive) To beat with a maul.
  5. (sex, slang) To play rough, to fondle intensively.
    • 1990 January 21, “Fuck Buddy/ies wanted”, in Gay Community News, volume 17, number 27, Personals, page 13:
      28 year old big, burly, bearded grizzly looking for other bears to maul me! Facial/body hair, brains a plus!

Derived terms

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Translations

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The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
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References

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Anagrams

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Cimbrian

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Etymology

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From Middle High German mūl, mūle (“muzzle, snout”), from Old High German *mūl, mūla (“snout”), from Proto-Germanic *mūlą, *mūlō (“muzzle, snout”).

Noun

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maul n

  1. mouth

References

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Estonian

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Noun

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maul

  1. adessive singular of magu

Norwegian Nynorsk

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Verb

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maul

  1. imperative of maule
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