muleta

[moo-ley-tuh, -let-uh]

noun

1. a red cloth similar to but smaller than a capa and manipulated by a stick set into one of the three holes in or near the center, for use by a matador in guiding the course of the bull's attack in the stage of the fight preparatory to the kill.

muleta

/ mjuːˈlɛtə /

noun

1. the small cape attached to a stick used by the matador during the final stages of a bullfight

Word History and Origins

Origin of muleta¹

1830–40; < Spanish: prop, support, muleta, diminutive of mula (feminine) mule ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of muleta¹

Spanish: small mule, crutch, from mula _mule ¹

Example Sentences

Wide views and environmental color are forsaken for a zeroed-in framing that tracks both the bull’s grim gladiatorial journey from roving combatant to ritually stabbed, gradually defeated warrior, and Rey’s role as foppish, face-contorting maestro with his flourishes of the muleta and theatrical stances.

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"Corrida is a tradition, an art, a dance with the bull," said Baptiste, one of about a dozen students who learn to wave the traditional red muleta cloth in front of bulls in the Arles bullfighting school.

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I was looking for a wild seductress waving the scarlet muleta of freedom before the charging bull of her own fate, and too often I got Exasperated Disney Heroine.

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He profiled directly in front of the bull, drew the sword out of the folds of the muleta and sighted along the blade.

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The bull charged and Romero waited for the charge, the muleta held low, sighting along the blade, his feet firm.

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