maul
Americannoun
-
a heavy hammer, as for driving stakes or wedges.
-
Archaic. a heavy club or mace.
verb (used with object)
-
mauls,
present (3rd person singular)
-
mauled,
past participle, past
-
mauling
present participle
-
to handle or use roughly.
The book was badly mauled by its borrowers.
-
to injure by a rough beating, shoving, or the like; bruise.
to be mauled by an angry crowd.
-
to split with a maul and wedge, as a wooden rail.
verb
-
to handle clumsily; paw
-
to batter or lacerate
noun
-
a heavy two-handed hammer suitable for driving piles, wedges, etc
-
rugby a loose scrum that forms around a player who is holding the ball and on his feet
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
maulsimple
-
maulssimple
-
have mauledperfect
-
has mauledperfect
-
am maulingprogressive
-
are maulingprogressive
-
is maulingprogressive
-
have been maulingperfect progressive
-
has been maulingperfect progressive
Past
-
mauledsimple
-
had mauledperfect
-
was maulingprogressive
-
were maulingprogressive
-
had been maulingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of maul
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
Explanation
Maul is both the name of a heavy hammer, and also a verb meaning beating and scratching. Tigers, lions, bears––animals with powerful paws and sharp claws, will maul their victims. The maul came to be used as a weapon in the late Middle Ages––if your opponent is wearing armor that a steel sword-blade can't penetrate, you can still inflict damage by mauling them with a hammer. You might not be able to stab your opponent, but at least you can maul them.
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Malcolm Marx trundled over at the back of a rolling maul after the interval and, three minutes later, Pieter-Steph du Toit barged over after a sharp blindside break by the impressive Van den Berg.
From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2026
Malcolm Marx plunged over at the back of juggernaut maul and a Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu penalty gave South Africa a cushion that Samisoni Taukei'aho's final-play try could dent, but not fully deflate.
From BBC ● Sep. 5, 2026
That score lit a fire in the Springboks, with Kolbe kicking a penalty and Damian de Allende barrelling over after another imposing maul as South Africa showed far more ruthlessness compared to a week ago.
From BBC ● Aug. 29, 2026
After the long break, Wales kept their composure as Morgan was driven over from another rolling maul as Tandy's side found themselves in the lead.
From BBC ● Jul. 4, 2026
The giant’s pace was a ponderous one, despite the length and girth of those legs, and he was forever stopping to knock snow off low-hanging limbs with his maul.
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
"You know Maro is on your team -- he's talking to you at mauls, scrums, nominating and talking around the pitch," Heyes said.
From Barron's ● Feb. 18, 2026
During his Springbok tenure, the former Free State flanker, who won 37 international caps, has innovated with strokes of genius such as naming a bench with just one back and rolling mauls in open play.
From Barron's ● Nov. 9, 2025
You would expect Talling to be tasked with combating the brilliance of De Goede, with her work at mauls a potential way to expend some of the Canadian's energy.
From BBC ● Sep. 25, 2025
Lake has been the Wales success story of this tour with his tries coming from rolling mauls, which have proved the tourists' most potent attacking threat.
From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2024
Giants lumbered amongst them, forty feet tall, with mauls the size of oak trees.
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
Also in June, a woman was mauled by a shark at one of Australia's most popular beaches in Sydney.
From Barron's ● Sep. 14, 2026
Kepu Tuipulotu mauled over to make it a five-point game and while Fin Smith's boot kept the visitors just about ahead, a wave of pressure made a Bath score feel inevitable.
From BBC ● Apr. 10, 2026
He treasures that trait even as he has hidden it beneath armor to avoid “being too badly mauled by the vicissitudes of life.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2025
Matthew, as his own son Trev would later reflect, had always “felt mauled by Aldous and burdened by his massive family legacy,” as he said in a video interview in December, 2023.
From Salon ● Apr. 19, 2025
Thanks to his obliviousness, he and George had been ruthlessly mauled.
From "Two Degrees" by Alan Gratz
In a sport that was long defined by a handful of powerhouse programs mauling everyone in their path, Cinderella has finally crashed college football’s party.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 9, 2026
Two big cats potentially involved in the suspected New Year's Day mauling were euthanized, state wildlife officials said.
From Barron's ● Jan. 2, 2026
Celtic were simply awful in a 2-0 defeat at Dens Park and not much better in the 3-1 mauling at Tynecastle.
From BBC ● Nov. 30, 2025
Romy is so caught up in her business that she’s nearly attacked by a dog on the street until a handsome stranger gives a whistle and stops the mauling moments before disaster.
From Salon ● Dec. 23, 2024
“But most cat trainers will tell you that getting mauled is not a matter of if. It’s a matter of when and how bad the mauling is going to be.”
From "Storm Runners" by Roland Smith
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
