maul
Americannoun
-
a heavy hammer, as for driving stakes or wedges.
-
Archaic. a heavy club or mace.
verb (used with object)
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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.
Vocabulary lists containing maul
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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:
But Leicester hit back when hooker Samiuela Moli launched himself over at the back of a driving maul and Billy Searle popped over the conversion to give Tigers a slender advantage.
From BBC ● Oct. 3, 2026
The teams traded early penalties before Springboks hooker Johan Grobbelaar drove over for the first try of the match after a powerful maul.
From BBC ● Sep. 27, 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
Scrum pressure forced New Zealand replacement Fletcher Newell to his knees, the Springboks punted the resulting penalty into the 22m and a monster maul rumbled infield and forward with Marx crashing over.
From BBC ● Sep. 5, 2026
He could be found on fall afternoons with a rake in hand, or a splitting maul perhaps.
From "Snow Falling on Cedars: A Novel" by David Guterson
Fiji dominated the attacking statistics but Wales managed to contain them, while their set-piece superiority resulted in three of the six tries coming from driving mauls as head coach Steve Tandy's game plan proved successful.
From BBC ● Jul. 4, 2026
"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
The rest seemed to be armed with spears and mauls.
From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin
Days before a Times reporter visited Matson’s property, a pack of wild dogs dug under his fence and fatally mauled his only surviving adult ostrich, Bam Bam.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 3, 2026
An Australian school teacher mauled by a large shark at a Sydney beach says she fired a "left hook" at the predator before it dragged her underwater.
From Barron's ● Aug. 31, 2026
A 71-year-old woman who was found dead inside her Sierra County home had been mauled by a black bear, the first known such fatal attack in California history.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 9, 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 ambled toward me with his clothes in tatters, like he’d gotten mauled by a bear.
From "Made You Up" by Francesca Zappia
Reasons for their absence include cost-cutting, a growing preference for tightly controlled social media-led launches, and the risk that a mauling from the Cannes critics can doom a movie.
From Barron's ● May 13, 2026
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
While some gleefully joined in the mauling, others were attracted to the film like moths to a flame.
From BBC ● Aug. 9, 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
Sitting there, it was easy to remember the island, the storm, the cold, the lightning, the fallen tree, the dead sparrows, and the mauling.
From "Touching Spirit Bear" by Ben Mikaelsen
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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.
