mulligan

[muhl-i-guh n]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR mulligan ON THESAURUS.COM

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.

Origin of mulligan

First recorded in 1900–05; special use of proper name

Mulligan

[muhl-i-guh n]

noun

Gerald JosephGerryJeru, 1927–96, U.S. jazz saxophonist, bandleader, and composer.

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

Related Words for mulligan

brew, soup, pie, bomb, mine, missile, powder, ammunition, detonator, dynamite, gunpowder, salmagundi, hash, goulash, medley, jumble, mishmash, potpourri, mulligan

Examples from the Web for mulligan

Contemporary Examples of mulligan

Mulligan and Timberlake may be stars, but the Coens leave them admirably unbuffed.
Why No Oscar Love For 'Inside Llewyn Davis'?
Tim Teeman
January 20, 2014
Mulligan's character is shacked up with Justin Timberlake, who—in the spirit of the film—delivers a subtly effective performance.
Why No Oscar Love For 'Inside Llewyn Davis'?
Tim Teeman
January 20, 2014
I also just get called “Mulligan” a lot, which I quite like.
Carey Mulligan, Star of ‘Inside Llewyn Davis,’ on the Coen Brothers, ‘N Sync Fandom, Lorde, and More
Marlow Stern
December 3, 2013
This may seem silly, but I have a friend with the last name “Mulligan,” and we used to call her “Mulligatawny,” like the soup.
Carey Mulligan, Star of ‘Inside Llewyn Davis,’ on the Coen Brothers, ‘N Sync Fandom, Lorde, and More
Marlow Stern
December 3, 2013
“He is not now and never will be a martyr,” Mulligan said of Hasan.
Nidal Hasan Deserves the Death Sentence the Fort Hood Jury Imposed
Michael Daly
August 28, 2013

Historical Examples of mulligan

He was in the midst of the turmoil when Hartley came in, humming the "Mulligan Guards."
Wayside Courtships
Hamlin Garland
By rolling these forward, he pushed his line close to Mulligan's works.
From Fort Henry to Corinth
Manning Ferguson Force
Then I saw Mulligan Jacobs in the gloom, within two yards of the mate.
The Mutiny of the Elsinore
Jack London
No; the philosophers have not yet explained Mulligan Jacobs.
The Mutiny of the Elsinore
Jack London
I wonder, had I asked Mulligan Jacobs the question, if he would have told me?
The Mutiny of the Elsinore
Jack London

British Dictionary definitions for mulligan

mulligan

noun

US and Canadian a stew made from odds and ends of food

Word Origin for mulligan

C20: perhaps from the surname

Mulligan

noun

Gerry, full name Gerald Joseph Mulligan. 1927–96, US jazz saxophonist, who pioneered the cool jazz style of the 1950s

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 mulligan

Mulligan

surname, from Gaelic Maolagan, Old Irish Maelecan, a double diminutive of mael "bald," hence "the little bald (or shaven) one," probably often a reference to a monk or disciple. As "stew made with whatever's available," 1904, hobo slang, probably from a proper name. The golf sense of "extra stroke after a poor shot" (1949) is sometimes said to be from the name of a Canadian golfer in the 1920s whose friends gave him an extra shot in gratitude for driving them over rough roads to their weekly foursome at St. Lambert Country Club near Montreal.