MAUL

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does maul mean? 

• MAUL (noun)
  The noun MAUL has 1 sense:

1. a heavy long-handled hammer used to drive stakes or wedges

  Familiarity information: MAUL used as a noun is very rare.

• MAUL (verb)
  The verb MAUL has 2 senses:

1. split (wood) with a maul and wedges

2. injure badly by beating

  Familiarity information: MAUL used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• MAUL (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A heavy long-handled hammer used to drive stakes or wedges

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

maul; sledge; sledgehammer

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

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

Derivation:

maul (split (wood) with a maul and wedges)

• MAUL (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they maul    ... he / she / it mauls   
Past simple: mauled   
Past participle: mauled   
-ing form: mauling   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Split (wood) with a maul and wedges

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "maul" is one way to...):

cleave; rive; split (separate or cut with a tool, such as a sharp instrument)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

maul (a heavy long-handled hammer used to drive stakes or wedges)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Injure badly by beating

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

mangle; maul

Hypernyms (to "maul" is one way to...):

blemish; deface; disfigure (mar or spoil the appearance of)

"Maul" entails doing...:

injure; wound (cause injuries or bodily harm to)

mar; mutilate (destroy or injure severely)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Derivation:

mauler (a fighter who batters the opponent)

 Context examples 

His body was theirs to maul, to stamp upon, to tolerate.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

With a transport of glee, I mauled the unresisting body, tasting delight from every blow; and it was not till weariness had begun to succeed, that I was suddenly, in the top fit of my delirium, struck through the heart by a cold thrill of terror.

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

As we limped homewards, sadly mauled and discomfited, we saw them for a long time flying at a great height against the deep blue sky above our heads, soaring round and round, no bigger than wood-pigeons, with their eyes no doubt still following our progress.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

His hair was standing out all over him in tufts where her teeth had mauled.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

This passed away as the puppies' antics and mauling continued, and he lay with half-shut patient eyes, drowsing in the sun.

(White Fang, by Jack London)