[maul] n [ME malle mace, maul, fr. OF mail, fr. L malleus; akin to OCS mlatu hammer, L molere to grind--more at meal] (13c): a heavy often wooden-headed hammer used esp. for driving wedges; also: a tool like a sledgehammer with one wedge-shaped end that is used to split wood
[2]maul vt (13c) 1: beat, bruise
2: mangle 1
3: to handle roughly -- maul.er n