mau-mau

[mou-mou]

verb (used with object) Slang.

to terrorize, intimidate, or threaten.

Origin of mau-mau

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

Mau Mau

[mou mou]

noun, plural Mau Maus, (especially collectively) Mau Mau.

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.

Origin of Mau Mau

From Kikuyu

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

British Dictionary definitions for mau-mau

Mau Mau

noun plural Mau Maus or Mau Mau

a secret political society consisting chiefly of Kikuyu tribesmen that was founded in 1952 to drive European settlers from Kenya by acts of terrorism
East African slang a Ugandan motorcycle policeman who directs traffic

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

Word Origin and History for mau-mau

Mau Mau

African secret society devoted to ending European rule, 1950, from the Kikuyu language of Kenya.