Definition of mutilate
mutilated
;mutilating
transitive verb
1 : to cut up or alter radically so as to make imperfect the child mutilated the book with his scissors a painting mutilated by vandals
2 : to cut off or permanently destroy a limb or essential part of : cripple His arm was mutilated in the accident.
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Examples of mutilate in a Sentence
a painting mutilated by vandals
was lucky not to be mutilated in the car crash
Recent Examples of mutilate from the Web
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After Till was abducted, beaten, and mutilated by two white men, his mother insisted on an open casket at her son’s funeral to show the barbarism of his killing.
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At one point, Muslims were stoned to death with rocks by mobs in the street, at times decapitated and mutilated.
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She’d been strangled, her left breast sliced away and her body mutilated by cuts.
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Villagers described woman, children, and elderly shot at close range, their bodies mutilated.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'mutilate'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Origin and Etymology of mutilate
Latin mutilatus, past participle of mutilare, from mutilus truncated, maimed
Synonym Discussion of mutilate
MUTILATE Defined for English Language Learners
mutilate
playDefinition of mutilate for English Language Learners
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: to cause severe damage to (the body of a person or animal)
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: to ruin the beauty of (something) : to severely damage or spoil (something)
MUTILATE Defined for Kids
Medical Dictionary
Learn More about mutilate
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See words that rhyme with mutilate Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for mutilate Spanish Central: Translation of mutilate Nglish: Translation of mutilate for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of mutilate for Arabic speakers
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