mulligan
noun
a stew containing meat, vegetables, etc., especially one made of any available ingredients.
mulligan
1 American
[muhl-i-guhn]
/ ˈmʌl ɪ gən /
noun
-
Also called mulligan stew. a stew containing meat, vegetables, etc., especially one made of any available ingredients.
-
Golf. a shot not counted against the score, permitted in unofficial play to a player whose previous shot was poor.
Mulligan
2
American
[muhl-i-guhn]
/ ˈmʌl ɪ gən /
noun
Mulligan
1
British
/ ˈmʌlɪɡən /
noun
mulligan
2
British
/ ˈmʌlɪɡən /
noun
Etymology
Origin of mulligan
First recorded in 1900–05; special use of proper name
Explanation
A mulligan is a stew, often made with various leftovers. You might clean all the vegetables out of your fridge and whip up a mulligan. When you make a mulligan — also called a mulligan stew — you use odds and ends from your refrigerator and pantry. You can also use the word to refer to a specific situation in the game of golf: if you make a terrible shot, a mulligan is when you're allowed to try again. The stew came first, around 1905, and the golf stroke followed in the 1940s, possibly from the name of a specific Canadian golfer.
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:
Oil shocks and heightened geopolitical tensions have reignited a familiar debate about whether policymakers should formally raise their inflation targets or simply take a mulligan and recommit.
From Barron's ● Apr. 30, 2026
It’s as if MLS gave Colorado a mulligan and the way the game was played suffered as a result.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 29, 2024
They might not get another mulligan - even in Ireland.
From Washington Times ● Aug. 24, 2023
“You don’t get a mulligan on this. It’s better to take the precaution and not have a significant impact than the reverse,” he said.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 27, 2022
They were cooking their mulligan over the fires.
From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck
Mr. Mulligan serves as HHS’s chief economist and is an economics professor at the University of Chicago.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 21, 2026
Mulligan questioned, referring to the charge of tampering with evidence that Flynn also faces.
From BBC ● Sep. 29, 2026
Elsewhere, the second season of Netflix's Beef could be a strong contender in the limited or anthology series category, and win acting prizes for its stars Carey Mulligan and Oscar Isaac.
From BBC ● Sep. 13, 2026
Mulligan should win for her darkly funny, cringe-inducing turn, though Snook, Pidgeon and sentimental favorite Field are all in play too.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026
Father Mulligan had died four years ago of viral hepatitis, in an ashram north of Rishikesh.
From "The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
