maul

1 of 2

noun

ˈmȯl 

: 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

maul

2 of 2

verb

mauled; mauling; mauls

transitive verb

1

: beat, bruise

2

: mangle sense 1

3

: to handle roughly

mauler noun

Synonyms

Verb

• abuse
• attack
• manhandle
• ambush
• maltreat
• injure
• rough (up)
• beat
• mishandle
• torture

Examples of maul in a Sentence

Verb

A bear killed one hiker and badly mauled the other.

demonstrators who claimed that they had been mauled by the police

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

The half ended with the Free Jacks once again putting the Sabercats under pressure, trying to force their way over the tryline through a rolling maul, and twice failing to score. —Vitas Carosella, Forbes.com, 28 June 2025

Minutes later, Hanover scored back-to-back tries with near identical mauls down the sideline. —Marcello Rossetti, Boston Herald, 14 June 2025

Verb

As Chris Brown speeds toward a February trial in the case of a housekeeper who was mauled by a security dog at his Los Angeles house five years ago, the singer is sharing his detailed description of the incident, in his own words, for the first time. —Nancy Dillon, Rolling Stone, 21 Oct. 2025

An Ohio woman was sentenced to prison after officials said her 6-month-old baby was mauled to death by a dog after being left unsupervised. —Jennifer Rodriguez, Kansas City Star, 20 Oct. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Noun and Verb

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

Noun

13th century, in the meaning defined above

Verb

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for maul

• ahl
• all
• aul
• bawl
• brawl
• call
• caul
• crawl
• dol
• doll
• drawl
• fall

Kids Definition

maul

1 of 2 noun

ˈmȯl 

: a heavy hammer often with a wooden head used especially for driving wedges or posts

maul

2 of 2 verb

1

: to beat and bruise severely

2

: mangle entry 1 sense 1

3

: to handle roughly

mauler noun