maul

From Middle English malle (“mace, maul”), from Anglo-Norman mail, from Old French mail, from Latin malleus (“hammer”). Doublet of malleus.

• IPA^(key): /mɔːl/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔːl
• Homophone: mall (one pronunciation)
• Homophone: moll (cot–caught merger)

maul (plural mauls)

1. A heavy long-handled hammer, used for splitting logs by driving a wedge into them, or in combat.

   Synonyms: club, mace

2. (rugby) A situation where the player carrying the ball, who must be on his feet, is held by one or more opponents, and one or more of the ball carrier's team mates bind onto the ball carrier.

• (long-handled hammer): post maul, spike maul, splitting maul
• (rugby): rolling maul

• ruck
• scrum

maul (third-person singular simple present mauls, present participle mauling, simple past and past participle mauled)

1. To handle someone or something in a rough way.

   Synonyms: abuse, mishandle, misuse

2. (usually of an animal) To savage; to cause serious physical wounds.

   Synonyms: harm, wound; see also Thesaurus:harm

   The bear mauled him in a terrible way.

   • 2019 February 27, Drachinifel, 26:02 from the start, in The Battle of Samar - Odds? What are those?‎^[1], archived from the original on 3 November 2022:

     The embattled heavy cruiser is not in immediate danger of sinking, but is being badly mauled.

   • 2025 September 22, Michael Levenson, “Tiger Handler Linked to Joe Exotic Is Fatally Mauled by Tiger”, in The New York Times‎^[2], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC:

     A tiger handler who had acquired some of his tigers from the zoo owner known as Joe Exotic was fatally mauled on Saturday by a tiger at his family-run zoo in southeastern Oklahoma, the authorities said.

     (Can we archive this URL?)

3. (figuratively) To criticise harshly.

   Synonyms: castigate, excoriate; see also Thesaurus:criticize

   The latest film by the Cohen brothers was mauled by the press, and was a box-office flop to boot.

4. (transitive) To beat with a maul.
5. (sex, slang) To play rough, to fondle intensively.
   • 1990 January 21, “Fuck Buddy/ies wanted”, in Gay Community News, volume 17, number 27, Personals, page 13:

     28 year old big, burly, bearded grizzly looking for other bears to maul me! Facial/body hair, brains a plus!

• mall
• mallet

• “maul”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “maul”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
• “maul v.”, in Green’s Dictionary of Slang, Jonathon Green, 2016–present

• Mula, malu, Luma, Lamu, Ulam, mula, luma, alum

From Middle High German mūl, mūle (“muzzle, snout”), from Old High German *mūl, mūla (“snout”), from Proto-Germanic *mūlą, *mūlō (“muzzle, snout”).

maul n

1. mouth

• Patuzzi, Umberto, ed., (2013) Luserna / Lusérn: Le nostre parole / Ünsarne börtar / Unsere Wörter [Our Words], Luserna, Italy: Comitato unitario delle isole linguistiche storiche germaniche in Italia / Einheitskomitee der historischen deutschen Sprachinseln in Italien

maul

1. adessive singular of magu

maul

1. imperative of maule