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

• maltreat
• manhandle
• mishandle
• rough (up)

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

John Franklin-Myers mauls RT Rosengarten and gets sack, knocking Baltimore out of FG position. —Matt Schubert, The Denver Post, 3 Nov. 2024

Cama’s 7-point try box came in the 74th minute and was a result of the Legion muscling their way to a series of successful scrums, mauls and rucks before Cama punched it over inside the 5-meter line area. —Ivan Carter, San Diego Union-Tribune, 14 Apr. 2024

Verb

Other recent attacks include a man who was killed in the remote Canadian territory of Nunavut and a mother and her 1-year-old son who were fatally mauled in Alaska. —Tim Stelloh, NBC News, 5 Dec. 2024

In one case, a man lost part of his ear after encountering a bear in his garage; in another, multiple people were mauled at a bus stop. —Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 2 Dec. 2024

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

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