maul 
maul (môl)
noun
a very heavy hammer or mallet, often of wood, for driving stakes, wedges, etc.
Etymology: Early ModE phonetic sp. of ME malle < OFr maile < L malleus, a hammer: see malleable
transitive verb
- to injure by beating or tearing; bruise or lacerate
- to handle roughly or clumsily; manhandle; paw
Etymology: ME mallen < OFr mailler < the n.
Subject
- lion: You are not going into a room to be mauled by lions.
- dog: Instead of man mauled by shark we have man mauled by dog.
- cat: In my time I've knocked a few birds on the head that have been badly mauled by cats.
- bear: In August 1823, Glass was badly mauled by a bear.
- tiger: In 1863, Bradford was out tiger hunting in India and was mauled by a tiger.
Object
- ball: The pack now proving unstoppable in the scrum, rucking and mauling the ball, Leos had no answer.
Preposition: at
- hand: None of this looks much to me like the actions of a Prime Minister chastened by his mauling at the hands of the electorate.
Modifying Another Word
- badly: My Troop had a narrow squeak of being badly mauled, had we not taken cover.
- severely: The cowed battalion duly went into battle, only to be again severely mauled in the German killing zone.
- critically: Hirst's new direction includes continuing with the photo-realist paintings that were first unveiled - and critically mauled - in New York last spring.
Used with why or when
- that: US Reviews The reviews in the US press gave Grimm a mixed response, hardly the critical mauling that was reported in the UK.
- when: Our 8 year old daughter Penny was mauled very badly when she was 2. She has been scared stiff of dogs since.
Preposition: from
- lineout: Nuns quickly responded with a driven maul from a lineout, when Adam Ross used the pack for protection before diving over.
- line-out: In response, the home side capitalized on numerous Effingham infringements, kicking to touch and utilizing subsequent driving mauls from the resultant line-outs.
Preposition: by
- tiger: In 1863, Bradford was out tiger hunting in India and was mauled by a tiger.
- lion: You are not going into a room to be mauled by lions.
- dog: Instead of man mauled by shark we have man mauled by dog.
- cat: In my time I've knocked a few birds on the head that have been badly mauled by cats.
- bear: In August 1823, Glass was badly mauled by a bear.
- critic: Lautrec has received something of a mauling by the national critics.
What happens when a game of football is proposed at Christmas among a party of young men assembled from different schools? Alas! The Eton man is enamoured of his own rules, and turns up his nose at Rugbyas not sufficiently aristocratic; while the Rugbeian retorts that 'bullying'and 'sneaking'are not to his taste, and he is not afraid of his shins, or of a 'maul'or 'scrimmage'.On hearing this the Harrovian pricks up his ears, and though he might previously have sided with Rugby, the insinuation against the courage of those who do not allow 'shinning'arouses his ire, and causes him to refuse to lay with one who has offered it. Thus it is found impossible to get up a game.
Browse dictionary entries near maul
- ‹ Maui
- ‹ maugre
- ‹ Maugham
- ‹ maudlin
- ‹ maudit
- ‹ maud
- ‹ Mauchly, John
- ‹ Mau Mau
- ‹ MAU
- ‹ matzo meal
- mauling ›
- maulstick ›
- maun ›
- Mauna Kea ›
- Mauna Loa ›
- maund ›
- maunder ›
- Maundy Thursday ›
- Maupassant ›
- Maureen ›
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