mule

[ myool ]

/ myul /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR mule ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

the sterile offspring of a female horse and a male donkey, valued as a work animal, having strong muscles, a body shaped like a horse, and donkeylike long ears, small feet, and sure-footedness.Compare hinny.

any hybrid between the donkey and the horse.

Informal. a very stubborn person.

Botany. any sterile hybrid.

Slang. a person paid to carry or transport contraband, especially drugs, for a smuggler.

a small locomotive used for pulling rail cars, as in a coal yard or on an industrial site, or for towing, as of ships through canal locks.

Also called spinning mule. a machine for spinning cotton or other fibers into yarn and winding the yarn on spindles.

Nautical. a large triangular staysail set between two masts and having its clew set well aft.

Numismatics. a hybrid coin having the obverse of one issue and the reverse of the succeeding issue, or vice versa.

Biology. a hybrid, especially one between the canary and some other finch.

Nearby words

mulch, mulcher, mulciber, mulct, muldoon, mule, mule chest, mule deer, mule skinner, mule spinning, mule train

Origin of mule

before 1000; Middle English < Old French < Latin mūla mule (feminine); replacing Old English mūl < Latin mūlus (masculine)

Definition for mule (2 of 2)

mule

[ myool ]

/ myul /

noun

a lounging slipper that covers the toes and instep or only the instep.

a woman's shoe resembling this.

Origin of mule

1350–1400; Middle English: sore spot on the heel, chilblain, perhaps < Middle Dutch mūle

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for mule

He weighed only 185 pounds, but he had killer instincts and rabbit quickness and the stamina of a mule.
Football Great Bob Suffridge Wanders Through the End Zone of Life|Paul Hemphill|September 6, 2014|DAILY BEAST
He took the left one and, with a pile driver of a mule kick, almost ripped it off its hinges.
The Night the SEALS Captured the Butcher of Fallujah|Patrick Robinson|November 11, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Those players called Robinson “Mule” because he worked them hard as pack animals.
Eddie Robinson, College Football’s Winningest Coach|Samuel G. Freedman|August 23, 2013|DAILY BEAST
In some places we want cows but not bison, or mule deer but not coyotes, or cars but not elk.
Why Do We Save Some Species and Let Others Get Devastated?|Melissa Holbrook Pierson|May 21, 2013|DAILY BEAST

Steadily, our gunman pushed forward, his mule high-stepping through brush.
An Obsessive’s Search for a Lost Jungle City|Christopher S. Stewart|December 30, 2012|DAILY BEAST
It would be a sad alternative—as both the mule and the dog were looked upon more in the light of companions than slaves.
The Boy Hunters|Captain Mayne Reid
I heard about the 40 acres of land and a mule the ex-slaves would get after the war, but I didn't pay any attention to it.
Slave Narratives Vol. XIV. South Carolina, Part 1|Various
A mule can beat you at that: 'Be ye not as the mule, which have no understanding.'
Expositions of Holy Scripture|Alexander Maclaren
I thought of Aristotle, who denied the existence of a mule because it was neither a horse nor an ass.
A Preface to Politics|Walter Lippmann
The gates of the palace were open, so I descended from my mule and entered, and lo!
George Cruikshank's Omnibus|George Cruikshank

British Dictionary definitions for mule (1 of 2)

mule

/ (mjuːl) /

noun

the sterile offspring of a male donkey and a female horse, used as a beast of burdenCompare hinny 1

any hybrid animala mule canary

Also called: spinning mule a machine invented by Samuel Crompton that spins cotton into yarn and winds the yarn on spindles

informal an obstinate or stubborn person

slang a person who is paid to transport illegal drugs for a dealer

Word Origin for mule

C13: from Old French mul, from Latin mūlus ass, mule

British Dictionary definitions for mule (2 of 2)

mule

/ (mjuːl) /

noun

a backless shoe or slipper

Word Origin for mule

C16: from Old French from Latin mulleus a magistrate's shoe

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 mule (1 of 2)

mule

n.1

"offspring of donkey and horse," from Old English mul, Old French mul "mule, hinny" (12c., fem. mule), both from Latin mulus (fem. mula) "a mule," probably from a pre-Latin Mediterranean language.

The mule combines the strength of the horse with the endurance and surefootedness of the ass, and is extensively bred for certain employments for which it is more suited than either; it is ordinarily incapable of procreation. With no good grounds, the mule is a proverbial type of obstinacy. [OED]

Properly, the offspring of a he-ass and a mare; that of a she-ass and a stallion is technically a hinny. Used allusively of hybrids and things of mixed nature. As a type of spinning machine, attested from 1797 (so called because a hybrid of distinct warp and woof machines). Meaning "obstinate, stupid, or stubborn person" is from 1470s; that of "narcotics smuggler or courier" first attested 1935.

Word Origin and History for mule (1 of 2)

mule

n.2

"loose slipper," 1560s, from Middle French mule, from Latin mulleus calceus "red high-soled shoe," worn by Roman patricians, from mullus "red" (see mullet (n.1)). Related: Mules.

Idioms and Phrases with mule

mule

see stubborn as a mule.

mule

noun

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Origin of mule

Definition for mule (2 of 2)

mule

noun

Origin of mule

Examples from the Web for mule

British Dictionary definitions for mule (1 of 2)

mule

noun

Word Origin for mule

British Dictionary definitions for mule (2 of 2)

mule

noun

Word Origin for mule

Word Origin and History for mule (1 of 2)

mule

Word Origin and History for mule (1 of 2)

mule

Idioms and Phrases with mule

mule