1
as in abused
to abuse physically
demonstrators who claimed that they had been mauled by the police
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in licked
to strike repeatedly
the irate store owner was mauling the shoplifter when the police showed up
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of mauled
Fueled by those eagles, Åberg has mauled the par 5s to the tune of 8 under par, two strokes better than anyone else through two days.
—
Justin Ray, New York Times, 14 Mar. 2026
Suffice it to say, sweet Amy getting mauled to death rattles everyone at the Ridge.
—Maggie Fremont, Vulture, 13 Mar. 2026
There was a crisp new poster on the easel at the Werth practice facility that displayed the Big East Tournament trophy, not yet mauled in frustration and held together by tape like the regular-season version had been.
—Joe Arruda, Hartford Courant, 10 Mar. 2026
The wild animals mauled and injured multiple cast members; in one instance, Diaz had to stop director Noel Marshall from internally bleeding.
—Andrea Flores, Los Angeles Times, 9 Mar. 2026
An Arizona mother of two was mauled to death by three dogs in a horrific attack while protecting her son outside her mother’s Southern California home.
—Julia Bonavita, FOXNews.com, 4 Mar. 2026
The 2000s brought Nick Jans’ The Grizzly Maze, which painted a layered, nuanced portrait of Timothy Treadwell, a man who lived alongside coastal brown bears in Katmai Alaska for thirteen summers before being mauled by a bear in 2003.
—Literary Hub, 3 Mar. 2026
Five months after a Miami Gardens woman was mauled to death, her family is still waiting for police to tell them which dog or dogs attacked her.
—Amanda Rosa, Miami Herald, 26 Feb. 2026
Lanning has been a borderline disaster in the CFP, getting squashed by Ohio State in 2024 and mauled by Indiana in 2025 (after dominating Texas Tech).
—Kirk Bohls, Houston Chronicle, 4 Feb. 2026
Justin Ray, New York Times, 14 Mar. 2026
Suffice it to say, sweet Amy getting mauled to death rattles everyone at the Ridge.
—Maggie Fremont, Vulture, 13 Mar. 2026
There was a crisp new poster on the easel at the Werth practice facility that displayed the Big East Tournament trophy, not yet mauled in frustration and held together by tape like the regular-season version had been.
—Joe Arruda, Hartford Courant, 10 Mar. 2026
The wild animals mauled and injured multiple cast members; in one instance, Diaz had to stop director Noel Marshall from internally bleeding.
—Andrea Flores, Los Angeles Times, 9 Mar. 2026
An Arizona mother of two was mauled to death by three dogs in a horrific attack while protecting her son outside her mother’s Southern California home.
—Julia Bonavita, FOXNews.com, 4 Mar. 2026
The 2000s brought Nick Jans’ The Grizzly Maze, which painted a layered, nuanced portrait of Timothy Treadwell, a man who lived alongside coastal brown bears in Katmai Alaska for thirteen summers before being mauled by a bear in 2003.
—Literary Hub, 3 Mar. 2026
Five months after a Miami Gardens woman was mauled to death, her family is still waiting for police to tell them which dog or dogs attacked her.
—Amanda Rosa, Miami Herald, 26 Feb. 2026
Lanning has been a borderline disaster in the CFP, getting squashed by Ohio State in 2024 and mauled by Indiana in 2025 (after dominating Texas Tech).
—Kirk Bohls, Houston Chronicle, 4 Feb. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for mauled
Verb
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Berman rehabilitates rabbits that are abandoned, neglected, abused, and in danger of being euthanized.—
Sharon Chin,
CBS News,
2 Apr. 2026
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Prosecutors argue that Duckett was a monster in disguise who abused the badge and brutally raped and killed Teresa before dumping her body in a lake.—
Amanda Lee Myers,
USA Today,
31 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Rumor has it the fashion crowd licked the shelves clean in Paris as soon as the first designs hit stores.—
Christina Holevas,
Vogue,
26 Mar. 2026
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Of course, the flue was closed, so the fire licked up the walls, left a smell like the fall, like ancient smokehouses and dung.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
5 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Kuwait’s Al Salmi tanker was attacked at the port connected to the United Arab Emirates city better known as a destination for influencers, Reuters and The New York Times reported.—
Michael Loria,
USA Today,
31 Mar. 2026
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The Houthis have previously attacked commercial ships in the Red Sea to disrupt the flow of oil, gas and other commodities through the Bab el-Mandeb strait.—
Lucia I Suarez Sang,
CBS News,
31 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Old timers can recall when clockwork storms pounded in the summer and drizzled in the winter.—
Shi En Kim,
AZCentral.com,
26 Mar. 2026
-
The fort stood high above the river, where fearsome artillery was able to turn back the Union gunboats that had pounded low-lying Fort Henry into submission.—
Bill Steiden,
Des Moines Register,
24 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Stella was torn between getting it right and being manhandled by Meredith.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
13 Mar. 2026
-
The Pats manhandled Denver in the AFC Championship Game, thanks mostly to defensive tackles Milton Williams and Christian Barmore.—
Andrew Callahan,
Boston Herald,
8 Feb. 2026
Verb
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After Cooke lashed out verbally, Wilson intervened and later comforted Batula in a conversation picked up by their microphones.—
Jenni Fink,
MSNBC Newsweek,
31 Mar. 2026
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Trump has lashed out at a number of G7 members and NATO allies for not responding to his calls for help in reopening the Strait of Hormuz, although in recent days several of them had indicated a willingness to back appropriate action to restore the key waterway to normal traffic.—
Matthew Lee,
Los Angeles Times,
24 Mar. 2026
Verb
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One morning in 1980, Carl Fletcher, head of one of the richest Jewish families in Long Island and owner of a local plastics factory, is ambushed and kidnapped from his driveway.—
The Know,
Denver Post,
29 Mar. 2026
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In the first inning, when the Tigers both waited out Pivetta and ambushed him, three of his 18 four-seam fastballs were in the strike zone.—
Kevin Acee,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
27 Mar. 2026
Verb
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The Gulf War left Saddam Hussein in power, but weakened and dangerous, a source of regional instability for another decade—a pattern that some fear might be playing out in Iran, if the regime emerges from the war battered but no less entrenched.—
Ishaan Tharoor,
New Yorker,
30 Mar. 2026
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But Ukraine’s drone attacks are also forcing Moscow to deprioritize some exports and protect consumers, who have been battered by high inflation.—
Jason Ma,
Fortune,
29 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Mauled.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mauled. Accessed 2 Apr. 2026.
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