mauled

[mawld]

adjective

1. harshly treated.

   The critically mauled movie sequel has also led to countless parodies and imitations.

2. badly injured or damaged.

   In the aftermath of the fox’s visit, Robin found half her chickens missing and a badly mauled rooster inside the chicken house itself.

verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of maul.

Other Word Forms

• unmauled adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of mauled¹

maul ( def. ) + -ed ² ( def. )

Example Sentences

In 2009, the park made international headlines after a rare white tiger mauled a zoo keeper to death in front of horrified tourists.

Read more on BBC

A handler was mauled to death by a white tiger inside the park in 2009.

Read more on Barron's

The Yemeni Houthis have been severely mauled by Israeli air power, with little to show for their many attempts to attack the Jewish state.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Tyrese Gibson faces one charge of cruelty to animals stemming from a September incident in Fulton County, Ga., that left a neighbor’s 5-year-old dog mauled and dead.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The last deadly shark attack in the Sydney area in 2022, when Simon Nellist - a British diving instructor - was mauled by a great white shark.

Read more on BBC