/ mɔːl; NAmE / verb [ vn ]
1.
( of an animal ) to attack and injure sb by tearing their flesh
SYN savage
2.
to touch sb/sth in an unpleasant and/or violent way
3.
to criticize sth/sb severely and publicly
SYN savage
4.
( informal ) to defeat sb easily
SYN trash
► maul·ing noun [ sing. ]:
The play received a mauling from the critics.
They face a mauling by last year's winners.
••
WORD ORIGIN
Middle English (in the sense hammer or wooden club , also strike with a heavy weapon ): from Old French mail , from Latin malleus hammer.