mutilate

mu·ti·late (myo̵̅o̅t′'l āt′)

transitive verb -·lat′ed, -·lat′·ing

to cut off or damage a limb or other important part of (a person or animal)
to damage, injure, or otherwise mar, esp. by removing an essential part or parts to mutilate a book by censorship

Etymology: < L mutilatus, pp. of mutilare, to maim, mutilate < mutilus, maimed; akin to Ir mut, short

mu′·ti·la′·tion noun mu′·ti·la′·tive adjective mu′·ti·la′·tor noun

To maim
disfigure, dismember, mangle, cut off, cut up; see also maim, mangle 1.
To damage
mar, deface, slash; see damage 1, hurt 1, mangle 1. See syn. study at maim.

Object

effigy: The old church, which was much larger, contained the mutilated effigy of a man in armor, with his sword sheathed.
corps: How could a God who smiled at those mutilated corpses in Omagh be a loving God?
corpse: In the morning they found her mutilated corpse in a ditch with her breasts cut off.
body: From there came his mutilated body, shot all over.
cattle: These critters abduct humans, mutilate cattle and invade our skies with impunity.
victim: Other cases might occur in medico-legal investigations, as when the hands only of some mutilated victim were found.

Preposition: at

end: That Mark is mutilated at the end is one of the most certain results of textual criticism.
beginning: Spitta and others have held that Mark has been mutilated at the beginning, as at the end.

Adjective complement

English: Then he noticed a suggestion of mutilated English about certain of the words.

Modifying Another Word

horribly: They are all human victims who die or are mutilated horribly for no good cause.
surgically: That animals are deliberately poisoned, surgically mutilated, deprived of food and water is bad enough.
terribly: This cannot have been a pleasant task, for some of the bodies were terribly mutilated.
badly: A body that had been too badly mutilated for positive identification had been dragged out of the river Avon.
sadly: Our other messmate suffered still more than the Swede; he was sadly mutilated about the legs and thighs with splinters.
severely: This included animals which had been blinded, severely mutilated, or with open wounds.

Preposition: beyond

recognition: KR: Never mind my son, your body may be mutilated beyond recognition but your spirit will live forever.

Preposition: in

way: Their bodies are split or mutilated in some way reflecting their sin.

Infinitive complement

make: MULDER: So you're saying he was drowned first and then mutilated to make it look like a signature execution?
suit: No; all the kingdoms of the earth shall be hacked about and mutilated to suit her.

Preposition: for

life: Some of the survivors of attacks have been mutilated for life.

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