mullock

American  

[muhl-uhk] / ˈmʌl ək /

noun

1. (in Australasia) refuse or rubbish, as rock or earth, from a mine; muck.

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idioms

1. poke mullock at, to ridicule.

mullock British  

/ ˈmʌlək /

noun

1. waste material from a mine

2. dialect a mess or muddle

3. informal to ridicule

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Other Word Forms

• mullocky adjective

Etymology

Origin of mullock

1350–1400; originally dialectal English; Middle English mullok, equivalent to mul dust, mold, rubbish (compare Old English myl dust; vowel perhaps from Middle English mullen; mull ⁴ ) + -ok -ock

Example Sentences

I was in a bit o' a mullock," Private James Akroyd's letter went on, "t' last time we were i' t' trenches; 'twern't mich to tell abaat, but 'twere hot while it lasted.

From More Tales of the Ridings by Moorman, Frederic William

It wouldn't matter to them any more whether they brought up knobbies or mullock; they'd have their wages—like bullocks have their hay.

From The Black Opal by Prichard, Katharine Susannah

Without the quiver of a nerve I swung down their deepest shafts in the big bucket on the end of a rope attached to a rough windlass, which brought up the miners and the mullock.

From My Brilliant Career by Franklin, Miles

They went to work as soon as it was dawn, in order to get mullock cleared away and dirt-winding over before the heat of the day began.

From The Black Opal by Prichard, Katharine Susannah

But her needeth care, or her may all goo away in mullock.

From Erema — My Father's Sin by Blackmore, R. D. (Richard Doddridge)