mutilate
Americanverb
-
to deprive of a limb, essential part, etc; maim; dismember
-
to mar, expurgate, or damage (a text, book, etc)
Related Words
See maim.
Other Word Forms
- mutilation noun
- mutilative adjective
- mutilator noun
- mutilatory adjective
- self-mutilating adjective
- self-mutilation noun
- unmutilated adjective
- unmutilative adjective
Etymology
Origin of mutilate
1525–35; from Latin mutilātus (past participle of mutilāre “to cut off, maim”), equivalent to mutil(us) “maimed, mutilated” + -ātus -ate 1
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.
But animal welfare charities worry that any carve-outs would be exploited by smugglers to continue trading, and would see those who illegally mutilate dogs in the UK avoid prosecution.
From BBC
Danny Chambers, the Liberal Democrat MP for Winchester and vet, has the government's support and the law would crack down on the import of dogs and cats that are mutilated or heavily pregnant.
From BBC
“The DGA strongly opposes the use of AI or any other technology to mutilate a film or to alter a director’s vision,” the DGA said in a statement.
From Los Angeles Times
Conservationists say they hate mutilating these anmals, whose magnificent horns are integral to their being.
From Salon
"It is not the outsiders who have damaged Africa the most, but the mutilated will of the people and the selfishness of some of our own leaders," she wrote.
From BBC
Definitions 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.
