Dictionary.com

mule

1
[ myool ]
/ myul /
Save This Word!
See synonyms for: mule / mules on Thesaurus.com

noun
QUIZ
WILL YOU SAIL OR STUMBLE ON THESE GRAMMAR QUESTIONS?
Smoothly step over to these common grammar mistakes that trip many people up. Good luck!
Question 1 of 7
Fill in the blank: I can’t figure out _____ gave me this gift.

Idioms about mule

    forty acres and a mule, a broken or unfulfilled promise, especially one with unjust, long-term consequences: an allusion to the parcels of farmland that formerly enslaved African Americans were promised and given after the Civil War and then had taken away from them: The protesters chanted their demand, ā€œReal action, real justice, no forty acres and a mule.ā€

Origin of mule

1
First recorded before 1000; Middle English, from Old French, from Latin mÅ«la ā€œmuleā€ (feminine); replacing Old English mÅ«l, from Latin mÅ«lus (masculine)

Other definitions for mule (2 of 2)

mule2
[ 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

2
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English mule, moule ā€œsore spot on the heel, chilblain,ā€ perhaps from Middle Dutch mÅ«le
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Ā© Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use mule in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for mule (1 of 2)

mule1
/ (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)

mule2
/ (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 Ā© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 Ā© HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with mule

mule

see stubborn as a mule.

The American HeritageĀ® Idioms Dictionary Copyright Ā© 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
FEEDBACK