MALLET

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does mallet mean? 

• MALLET (noun)
  The noun MALLET has 3 senses:

1. a sports implement with a long handle and a head like a hammer; used in sports (polo or croquet) to hit a ball

2. a light drumstick with a rounded head that is used to strike such percussion instruments as chimes, kettledrums, marimbas, glockenspiels, etc.

3. a tool resembling a hammer but with a large head (usually wooden); used to drive wedges or ram down paving stones or for crushing or beating or flattening or smoothing

  Familiarity information: MALLET used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• MALLET (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A sports implement with a long handle and a head like a hammer; used in sports (polo or croquet) to hit a ball

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("mallet" is a kind of...):

sports implement (an implement used in a sport)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "mallet"):

croquet mallet (a mallet used to strike the ball in croquet)

polo mallet; polo stick (a mallet used to strike the ball in polo)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A light drumstick with a rounded head that is used to strike such percussion instruments as chimes, kettledrums, marimbas, glockenspiels, etc.

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

hammer; mallet

Hypernyms ("mallet" is a kind of...):

drumstick (a stick used for playing a drum)

Holonyms ("mallet" is a part of...):

percussion instrument; percussive instrument (a musical instrument in which the sound is produced by one object striking another)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A tool resembling a hammer but with a large head (usually wooden); used to drive wedges or ram down paving stones or for crushing or beating or flattening or smoothing

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

beetle; mallet

Hypernyms ("mallet" is a kind of...):

hammer (a hand tool with a heavy rigid head and a handle; used to deliver an impulsive force by striking)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "mallet"):

carpenter's mallet (a short-handled mallet with a wooden head used to strike a chisel or wedge)

gavel (a small mallet used by a presiding officer or a judge)

 Context examples 

The mallet hand of Edward, however, had shattered all the schemes and wiles of the plotter.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

"I'm through! Now, Miss Jo, I'll settle you, and get in first," cried the young gentleman, swinging his mallet for another blow.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

In the waist gathered the Southampton mariners, hairy and burly men, with their jerkins thrown off, their waists braced tight, swords, mallets, and pole-axes in their hands.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Steel caps, mail brigandines, white surcoats with the red lion of St. George, and sword or battle-axe swinging from their belts, completed this equipment, while in some cases the murderous maule or five-foot mallet was hung across the bowstave, being fastened to their leathern shoulder-belt by a hook in the centre of the handle.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)