mau-mau

¹

[mou-mou]

verb (used with object)

Slang.

1. to terrorize, intimidate, or threaten.

Mau Mau

²

[mou mou]

noun

plural

Mau Maus ,

plural

Mau Mau .

1. a member of a revolutionary society in Kenya, established in the early 1950s, that consisted chiefly of Kikuyu and engaged in terrorist activities in an attempt to drive out the European settlers and to give government control to the native Kenyans.

Mau Mau

/ ˈmaʊ ˌmaʊ /

noun

1. a secret political society consisting chiefly of Kikuyu tribesmen that was founded in 1952 to drive European settlers from Kenya by acts of terrorism

2. slang,  a Ugandan motorcycle policeman who directs traffic

Word History and Origins

Origin of mau-mau¹

1970; coined by Tom Wolfe in Radical Chic and Mau-Mauing the Flak Catchers; Mau Mau

Origin of mau-mau²

From Kikuyu