I. noun
also mall or mawl ˈmȯl
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English malle, mell, from Old French mail hammer, maul, from Latin malleus hammer; akin to Latin molere to grind — more at meal
1.
a. : a weapon in the form of a heavy club often with a metal-studded head : mace
b. : a heavy hammer often with a wooden head ; especially : one (as a beetle, mallet, or sledge) used for driving wedges or piles
2. obsolete : a determined or irresistible foe
3.
[ maul (II) ]
a.
(1) or maul in goal : a play formerly used in rugby and American football in which an attacking player who had carried the ball across the goal line was prevented from touching it down for a score by a defending player
(2) : loose scrum
b. : a rough or rowdy brawl
the toughs charged the gentry and … the battle became a heavy maul — Bruce Marshall
II. verb
also mall “
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English mallen, from Old French maillier, from mail, n.
transitive verb
1. obsolete : to strike or knock down with or as if with a maul
2.
a. : to beat and bruise
mauled the boy with repeated blows
b. : to injure by or as if by beating : beat about : mangle
the heavy seas mauled the boats about
c. : to handle roughly or with lack of care and consideration
this blessed language of ours is so mauled — Journal of Accountancy
often : to fondle roughly
stop mauling the kitten
3. : to split (wood) with maul and wedges
planned to maul out rails for a new fence
intransitive verb
: to engage in mauling
picking and mauling at the hat in his hands
III.
dialect
variant of mallow
IV. noun
: a tool like a sledgehammer with one wedge-shaped end that is used to split wood