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mulligan

noun
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mul·​li·​gan | \ ˈmə-li-gən How to pronounce mulligan (audio) \

Definition of mulligan

: a free shot sometimes given a golfer in informal play when the previous shot was poorly played

Examples of mulligan in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web But this year Bob Bradley’s team gets something of a mulligan on that last game thing because LAFC still has as many as three CONCACAF Champions League games to play. — Kevin Baxter, Los Angeles Times, "Soccer newsletter: Remembering Diego Maradona," 1 Dec. 2020 The Wolverines will likely want a mulligan after rewatching their first-half performance. — Orion Sang, Detroit Free Press, "Michigan football humiliated by Wisconsin in historic 49-11 thrashing," 15 Nov. 2020 But Zimmer has enough of a track record and history that he can be allowed a mulligan and a teachable moment. — Michael Rand, Star Tribune, "Five times we panicked about the Vikings defense under Mike Zimmer," 14 Sep. 2020 Does the club get a mulligan because of the pandemic? — Pat Brennan, The Enquirer, "Takeaways: Looking back on FC Cincinnati's 2020 MLS soccer season," 11 Nov. 2020 Getting the sand to Augusta, however, required the transportation equivalent of a mulligan. — Sam Farmer, Los Angeles Times, "The special ingredient of those brilliant white sand traps at the Masters," 11 Nov. 2020 There is no better time during this mulligan of a season than this Saturday against Arkansas. — Joseph Goodman | Jgoodman@al.com, al, "Florida Man Mullen embracing Spurrier role for UGA," 5 Nov. 2020 The good news is, with the pandemic ongoing and any number of unprecedented factors entering the daily worries of head coaches everywhere, maybe Sumlin gets a mulligan this fall. — Josh Newman, The Salt Lake Tribune, "The Tribune’s 2020 Pac-12 football preview: Oregon, USC look like teams to beat, but don’t count out Utah," 30 Oct. 2020 After the brutal loss at Georgia, Nix is playing like this season is a mulligan. — Joseph Goodman | Jgoodman@al.com, al, "Auburn’s Bo Nix playing like season is a mulligan," 20 Oct. 2020

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'mulligan.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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First Known Use of mulligan

1931, in the meaning defined above

History and Etymology for mulligan

probably from the name Mulligan

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Time Traveler for mulligan

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The first known use of mulligan was in 1931

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Cite this Entry

“Mulligan.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mulligan. Accessed 5 Mar. 2021.

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