maul

verb

mauled; mauling; mauls

transitive verb

1

: beat, bruise

2

: mangle sense 1

3

: to handle roughly

mauler noun

Synonyms of maul

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

Examples of maul in a Sentence

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

Continue reading … TERROR NEXT DOOR — Pit bulls mauled woman to death after 14 calls to police about owner, sheriff says. —FOXNews.com, 8 June 2026

Australia's only other fatal shark attack this year occurred in January, when a 12-year-old boy died in a hospital days after he was mauled by a bull shark in Sydney Harbor. —ABC News, 6 June 2026

Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach and the Linn County Attorney’s Office have filed a 2nd degree murder charge against a 47-year-old man whose vicious dogs allegedly mauled his 13-year-old neighbor to death days before Christmas. —Eric Adler, Kansas City Star, 2 June 2026

As Mox mauled Kyle, fans did react when Moxley bit O’Reilly in the face. —Alfred Konuwa, Forbes.com, 24 May 2026

Word History

Etymology

First Known Use

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