maul

¹maul

noun \ˈmȯl\

Definition of MAUL

: a heavy often wooden-headed hammer used especially for driving wedges; also : a tool like a sledgehammer with one wedge-shaped end that is used to split wood

Origin of MAUL

Middle English malle mace, maul, from Anglo-French mail, from Latin malleus; akin to Old Church Slavic mlatŭ hammer, Latin molere to grind — more at meal

First Known Use: 13th century

Other Hardware Terms

adze, auger, awl, chock, ferrule, punch, tang

Rhymes with MAUL

all, awl, ball, bawl, brawl, call, caul, crawl, doll, drawl, fall, gall, hall, haul, kraal, mall, moll, pall, pawl, Saul, scall, scrawl, shawl, small, spall, sprawl, squall, stall, tall, thrall, trawl, wall, yawl

²maul

transitive verb

Definition of MAUL

1

: beat, bruise

2

: mangle 1

3

: to handle roughly

— maul·er noun

Examples of MAUL

1. A bear killed one hiker and badly mauled the other.
2. <demonstrators who claimed that they had been mauled by the police>

First Known Use of MAUL

13th century

Related to MAUL

Synonyms

maltreat, manhandle, mishandle, rough (up)

Related Words

abuse, ill-treat, ill-use, mistreat, misuse; roughhouse, wrestle; bash, batter, beat, buffet, drub, lambaste (or lambast), lick, pommel, pound, pummel, slap, thrash; harm, hurt, injure, wound; oppress, persecute, wrong; ambush, assail, attack; clobber, fight, gang up (on), hit, jump, knock; torment, torture

Near Antonyms

caress, fondle, pet; coddle, mollycoddle, pamper; care (for), foster, nurture