mule Hear it!

mule¹ Definition

mule (myo̵̅o̅l)

noun

  1. the offspring of a donkey and a horse; esp., the offspring of a jackass and a mare: mules are nearly always sterile
  2. a small tractor or electric engine used to tow boats along a canal or move mine cars
  3. a machine for drawing and spinning cotton fibers into yarn and winding the yarn on spindles
  4. a hybrid animal, as the offspring of a canary and some other finch; esp., a sterile hybrid
  5. Informal a stubborn person
  6. Slang a person who smuggles drugs or narcotics into a country

Etymology: OFr, fem. of mul < L mulus, mule

mule² Definition

mule (myo̵̅o̅l)

noun

a lounging slipper that does not cover the heel

Etymology: Fr, ult. < L mulleus, red or purple shoe < IE base *mel-, dark-colored > Gr melas, black

mule Synonyms

mule

n.

jackass, donkey, ass, burro, jenny, hinney, army mule, Missouri mule; see also animal 2.

mule Usage Examples

Converse of subject

  • carry: All its supplies would have to be carried by mule, of which nearly two thousand were still needed.

Converse of object

  • disguise: Do you know that these animals are not mules cleverly disguised?
  • ride: We spent the third day riding the Mules up to the top.
  • load: On 19th October Charles T. Stanton arrived back from Sutter's Fort with seven mules loaded with food.
  • use: In most instances we use pack mules to carry our equipment.
  • call: The new movie will be called The Nine Mules.
  • hire: From the landing stage here the hardy tourist can either walk the mile and a half track into the mountains or hire a mule.

Adjective modifier

  • spinning: Samuel Crompton, inventor of the spinning mule, dies at the age of 74.
  • old: Picture the 32 year old soldier sat on his 13 year old mule.
  • white: Wen Chang ( ' Literary Glory ' ) at the top left-hand corner is wearing official robes and riding on a white mule.
  • stubborn: He always has been and I have always been a stubborn, unbelieving old mule!

Modifies a noun

  • ewe: Visitors were then given the chance to inspect the mule ewe lambs to be sold at Castle Douglas.
  • deer: There is also a wide variety of animal life: mule deer, mountain lions, .
  • cart: We made a shelter for His Majesty and the women, by propping up the sailcloth covering of the mule cart on sticks.
  • lamb: The trials are being performed on a flock of mule lambs selected for tagging with this variety of tag types.
  • track: I had driven out from Madrid along the Valencia road, turning off along a mule track about ten miles from the city.
  • trail: Crete has miles of dirt tracks and old mule trails which ma...

Noun used with modifier

  • pack: Avid bird watching enthusiasts often look like pack mules hiking to a gold rush in the west.
  • drug: A former Sandy Upper schoolgirl is starting the New Year in a Greek jail accused of being a drugs mule.
  • money: They are interested in money mule recruitment mails too.
mule Quotes

It seems to me a barren thing this Conservatismöan unhappy cross-breed, the mule of politics that engenders nothing.

—Disraeli, Benjamin, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield

  I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye. Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding: whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they come near unto thee.

—Bible (Old Testament)

What that Sicilian mule was to me, I have been to the Queen.

—Gladstone,W(illiam) E(wart)

   You got to have smelt a lot of mule manure before you can sing like a hillbilly.

—Williams, (Hiram) Hank

Browse dictionary entries near mule

  1. mulct
  2. mulching mower
  3. mulch
  4. mulberry
  5. mulatto
  6. muktuk
  7. mukluk
  8. Mukden
  9. mujik
  10. mujahedin
  1. mule deer
  2. mule skinner
  3. muleta
  4. muleteer
  5. muley
  6. Mulhacén
  7. Mulhouse
  8. muliebrity
  9. mulish
  10. mull