maul

[ mawl ]
See synonyms for: maulmauledmauling on Thesaurus.com

noun
  1. a heavy hammer, as for driving stakes or wedges.

  2. Archaic. a heavy club or mace.

verb (used with object)
  1. to handle or use roughly: The book was badly mauled by its borrowers.

  2. to injure by a rough beating, shoving, or the like; bruise: to be mauled by an angry crowd.

  1. to split with a maul and wedge, as a wooden rail.

Origin of maul

1
First recorded in 1200–50; (noun) Middle English malle, from Old French mail “mallet, hammer,” from Latin malleus “hammer”; (verb) Middle English mallen, from Old French maillier, derivative of noun

Other words from maul

  • maul·er, noun

Words that may be confused with maul

Words Nearby maul

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use maul in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for maul

maul

/ (mɔːl) /


verb(tr)
  1. to handle clumsily; paw

  2. to batter or lacerate

noun
  1. a heavy two-handed hammer suitable for driving piles, wedges, etc

  2. rugby a loose scrum that forms around a player who is holding the ball and on his feet

Origin of maul

1
C13: from Old French mail, from Latin malleus hammer. See mallet

Derived forms of maul

  • mauler, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012