▪ I. maul, mall, n.1
(mɔːl)
Forms: α. 3 mealle, 3, 6 male, 4 mayl, 4–7 malle, 5 mal, 5– mall. (See also the northern mell n.) β. 6–7 maull, mawle, maule, 7–8 mawl, 7– maul.
[a. F. mail (in OF. pronounced malʎ) = Pr. malh-s, Sp. mallo, Pg. malho, It. maglio:—L. malleum (nom. malleus) hammer.]
I. 1. a. = mace n.1 1. Also, a wooden club. Obs. exc. arch. and Hist.
| a 1240 Sawles Warde in Cott. Hom. 253 Hare unirude duntes wið mealles istelet. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 4229 Is male [v.r. mace] he dude ek bituene ac þat blod adoun wende. 13.. Erasmus in Horstm. Altengl. Leg. (1878) 202 These he suffred of þe turmentours..xviii was betyng on his body withe brennyng malles. 13.. St. Cristofer 547 ibid. (1881) 461 His false goddis he smate þame alle In sondir with ane Iryne malle. c 1380 Sir Ferumb. 4653 A mayl of Ire he bar an honde. c 1450 Merlin 339 Whan Arthur saugh the Geaunte lifte vp his malle he douted the stroke. 1523 Ld. Berners Froiss. I. ccccxvii. 730 They were of harnessed men..mo than xxx. thousande, and as many with malles. 1545 R. Ascham Toxoph. (Arb.) 70 A leaden maule, or suche lyke weapon, to beate downe his enemyes withall. 1563–87 Foxe A. & M. (1596) 40/1 Felix and Philip had their braines beaten out with mawles. 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. vii. 51 With mighty mall The monster mercilesse him made to fall. 1627 Drayton Agincourt, etc. 39 With Battle-axes, Halberts, Bills, and Maules. 1682 Bunyan Holy War 48, I have a Maul, Fire-brands, Arrows, and Death, all good hand weapons. 1686–7 Aubrey Rem. Gentilism & Judaism (1881) 19 The Holy-mawle, w{supc}{suph} (they fancy) hung behind the Church dore, w{supc}{suph} when the father was seaventie, the sonne might fetch, to knock his father in the head, as effœte, and of no more use. 1891 Cornh. Mag. Oct. 444 Steel caps, mail brigandines..completed this equipment, while in some cases the murderous maule or five-foot mallet was hung across the bow-stave. |
† b. pl. A name given to the Parisian insurgents of 1 Mar. 1382, who were armed with leaden clubs.
| 1525 Ld. Berners Froiss. II. clxxxv. [clxxxi.] 563 The sayd Constable put downe the malles of Parys, and punyshed them for their rebellyons. |
2. a. In early use, a massive hammer of any kind. Now, applied to various special kinds of heavy hammers or beetles, commonly of wood, used, (e.g.) in driving piles, in shipbuilding, in mining operations, and in various operations on board ship. top-mall (Naut.): see top n.
| c 1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 127 Þou schalt smyte wiþ a mal eiþer an hamer on þe greet eende. c 1420 Chron. Vilod. 4332 Bot his hedde was gret, leyge to a gret malle. 1432–50 tr. Higden (Rolls) II. 229 Tubal hauenge delectacion in the sownde of the malles [etc.]. 1460 J. Capgrave Chron. (Rolls) 34 With a malle and a nayle sche smet him in the hed. ? c 1475 Hunt. Hare 91 Then euery man had a mall Syche as thei betyn clottys withall. 1485 Naval Acc. Hen. VII (1896) 39 Lede malles feble..xiiij. 15.. Smyth & Dame 17 in Hazl. E.P.P. III. 202 He covde werke wyth a mall Many maner of metall. 1523 Fitzherb. Husb. §15 And if the barleye grounde wyll not breake with harrowes..it wolde be beaten with malles. Ibid. §126 Take thy mall agayn and dryue downe the edderynges and also thy stakes. 1591 Sylvester Du Bartas i. iv. 342 Th' Iron Maule that chimes The intire Day in twice twelue equall times. 1676 Worlidge Cyder (1691) 96 Others beat them [apples] on a table with mauls. 1680 Moxon Mech. Exerc. 203 The Joyner's Mallet would supply the Office of this Tool; but Use has made the Mawl more handy for them. 1688 R. Holme Armoury iii. 312/2 The Executioner with the Violence of a Blow on the head of the Axe with his heavy Maul, forced it through the Mans Neck. 1764 Char. in Ann. Reg. 23/1 The instruments of agriculture they use..are a spade, a mall, and a rake or harrow. 1812 Chron. in Ann. Reg. 5 The stake, with the mall, was driven through the body. 1840 R. H. Dana Bef. Mast ix. 20 We..stopped the mall with rope-yarns. 1874 J. H. Collins Metal Mining (1875) 61 Hammers.—The chief kinds used in metal mines are mallets or ‘malls’. 1886 R. C. Leslie Sea-painter's Log vii. 154 The shipwright's maul. |
| U.S. slang. 1872 Schele de Vere Americanisms 616 Maul and Wedges..often used to denote the whole of a man's possessions, his movables. |
† b. trans. and fig. after L. malleus. (Often, like hammer, scourge, applied to a person as the irresistible foe or the terrible oppressor of some person, class, or institution.) Obs.
| c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 351 Þe stake is þe synne hardud in mannus hert; þe malle þat he driueþ it wiþ is newe rehersynge of synne. 1432–50 tr. Higden (Rolls) VI. 43 The Sawden and duke of Turkes, the grete malle of Cristen peple. 1577 T. Vautrollier Luther on Ep. Gal. 155 God must needes take this maule in hand, the lawe I meane,..to bring to nothing this beast. 1624 H. Mason Art of Lying iv. 59 Luther was a great mawle, that battered their Babel. 1658 Rowland tr. Moufet's Theat. Ins. 951 That flower of Knighthood, and Maul of the Spanish pride, Francis Drake. 1711 Hickes Two Treat., Chr. Priesth. (1847) II. 34 Optatus..the great mall of the Donatists. |
II. [From maul v.]
† 3. A heavy blow, as with a hammer. Obs.
| 1664 Butler Hud. ii. i. 527 Give that Rev'rend Head a mall, Or two, or three, against a Wall. |
4. Rugby Football. A mauling or tackling. maul (in goal): see quot. 1871.
| 1867 Rugby School Football Laws 18 Only those who are touching the ball with their hands may continue in the maul inside goal. 1871 in Rugby U. Football Ann. (1874–5) 6 A Maul in goal is when the holder of the ball is tackled inside goal line, or being tackled immediately outside, is carried or pushed across it, and he, or the opposite side, or both, endeavour to touch the ball down. 1874–5 Rugby U. Football Ann. 38 A maul occurred in the centre of the ground, from which Edinburgh emerged victorious. 1892 Cail in Field 17 Sept. 458/1 This year the maul has finally been relegated to the past [by the Rugby Union]. 1960 Times 7 Dec. 17/1 The ability to start attacks from line-outs and loose mauls. 1973 Times 9 Feb. 11/2 We did not do well in the rucks and mauls against Wales. |
▪ II. maul, n.2 dial.
(mɔːl)
Also 5 malle, 9 maule.
[Variant of mallow.]
= mallow.
| c 1425 Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 644/34 Hec malua, malle. 1674–91 Ray N.C. Words 46 Mauls, Mallowes. 1788 W. Marshall Yorksh. II. Gloss. (E.D.S.), Mauls, malvæ, mallows. 1866 Treas. Bot., Maule, Malva sylvestris. 1876 Mid-Yorksh. Gloss., Mauls, the herb marsh-mallows. |
▪ III. maul, v.
(mɔːl)
Forms: α. 3 meallen, 5–6 malle, 4– mall. β. 6–7 maule, 7 maull, mawle, mawll, 7–9 mawl, 7– maul.
[f. maul n.1]
† 1. trans. To beat or strike (with or as with a maul or hammer); to hammer, batter; also, to beat or knock in, along. Obs.
| ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 3038 Mynsteris and masondewes they malle to þe erthe. c 1420 Pallad. on Husb. ii. 17 The cloddis malled be with mannes hond. Ibid. v. 516 This pece [of wood] amydde his trunke hit is to malle. 1530 Palsgr. 632/2 Nowe that he hath done with plowynge of our grounde go mall the cloddes. 1609 J. Davies Holy Roode (Grosart) 12/1 See how they mall it on, in ruthlesse rage. 1633 T. James Voy. 51, I ordered the Cooper to..looke to all our Caske: those that were full, to mawle in the bungs of them. |
| fig. 1607 Hieron Wks. (1619–20) II. 373 A certayne hammer, which the Lord vseth in this seruice of malling and breaking the heart. |
b. U.S. To split (rails) with a maul and wedge.
| 1686 in P. A. Bruce Econ. Hist. Virginia (1896) I. 318 note, Johnson..doth..impower you..to fall, mall, and set up..400 panels of sufficient post and rails. 1789 T. Anburey Trav. II. 323 Fence rails, which are made out of trees, cut or sawed into lengths of about twelve feet, that are mauld or split into rails. 1856 Olmsted Slave States 207, I always have two hundred rails mauled in a day. 1896 P. A. Bruce Econ. Hist. Virginia I. 317 Among the terms..in the contract..was one requiring the latter to maul six hundred fencing rails. |
† c. intr. To hammer. Obs.
| a 1375 Joseph Arim. 508 Miȝtful men mallen þorw scheldes. 1615 R. Brathwait Strappado (1878) 113 Her hands like Fullers wheels, one vp, one downe, Which still lie malling on my costrell crowne. |
† 2. trans. To strike (a person or animal) with a heavy weapon; to knock down. Obs.
| a 1240 Sawles Warde in Cott. Hom. 251 Deoflen þat ham meallið ant derueð aa ant dreccheð wið alles cunnes pinen. ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 3841 And mett hyme in the myde schelde, and mallis hyme thorowe. Ibid. 4037, I salle evene amange his mene malle hym to dede. 1530 Palsgr. 632/1 If he mall you on the heed I wyll nat gyve a peny for your lyfe. 1537 Matthew Judg. v. 22 Then they malled the horsses legges, y{supt} their myghtie coursers lefte praunsyng. 1596 Spenser F.Q. v. xi. 8 The sad steele..lighting on his horses head him quite did mall. 1612 Chapman Widowes T. v. K 3 b, Lys. Would not my Ghost start vp, and flie vpon thee? Cyn. No, I'de mall it down againe with this [i.e. a crowbar]. 1613 Purchas Pilgrimage viii. xii. (1614) 805 Many Gentlewomen..while his [the king's] bodie was burning were malled with clubbes, and buried foure and foure in a graue. 1648 Gage West Ind. xiii. (1655) 72 They mawled with a club those which had the Garlands. |
3. To beat and bruise (a person); to maltreat; to knock about.
| c 1610 Middleton Widow v. i. 138 Your women..will so maul him With broken cruises and pitchers..He'll never die alive. 1712 Swift Jrnl. to Stella 7 Aug., My lord's business is to hasten the peace before the Dutch are too much mauled. 1748 Smollett Rod. Rand. (1812) 314 It was proposed by Bragwell that we should..maul the watch. 1858 Doran Crt. Fools 105 Thrashing the..bishop and terribly mauling his body of followers. |
4. transf. To damage seriously; to shatter, mangle. (Said, e.g., of storms, shot, etc.; formerly of disease or the like.)
| 1692 South 12 Serm. (1697) II. 41 Nor is Excess the onely thing by which Sin mauls and breaks Men in their health. 1709 Steele Tatler No. 1 ¶5 This Passion has so extremely mauled him, that his Features are set and uninformed. 1758 Ann. Reg. 100 Her larboard side is most terribly mauled: there are seventy shot-holes on that side. 1805 in Nicolas Disp. Nelson (1846) VII. 190 note, Saw some of the Fleet at times, very much mauled and greatest part partly dismasted. 1817–18 Cobbett Resid. U.S. (1822) 145 America is not wholly exempt from that mortal enemy of turnips, the fly, which mawled some of mine. 1885 J. Runciman Skippers & Sh. 112 The sea was mauling her pretty badly. |
5. fig. To subject to damaging criticism, injure by criticizing, ‘cut up’, ‘pull to pieces’.
| 1593 Nashe Four Lett. Confut. 50 By the eternal iests he would maule thee with. 1695 Congreve Prol. Hopkins' Pyrrhus 25 Far hence they vent their Wrath, Mauling in mild Lampoon th'intriguing Bath. 1711 Medley No. 21. 240 The poor Whigs are every day so maul'd off by the Tories for their Fanaticism, that [etc.]. 1759 Dilworth Pope 94 Finding themselves let pass free of all censure, and seeing the other sex so mauled. 1785 Crabbe Newspaper 412 To vex and maul a ministerial race. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) I. 187 They are a class who are very likely to get mauled by Euthydemus and his friends. 1885 Manch. Exam. 25 Feb. 3/3 Poor Sir David Brewster, a really harmless man, is mauled in quite a wicked fashion. |
6. To handle roughly or carelessly (chiefly with about); to damage by rough or careless handling. Also fig. to maul down (dial.): to lift down.
| 1781 Cowper Conversat. 290 We that make no honey, though we sting, Poets, are sometimes apt to maul the thing. 1827 Clare Sheph. Cal. 156 She came smiling out, Saying she hated to be mawled about With their black faces. 1847 Bushnell Chr. Nurt. ii. ii. (1861) 264 He is a man that mauls every truth of God. 1856 Mrs. Browning Aur. Leigh iii. 906 To see them laugh and laugh and maul their texts. 1878 T. Hardy Ret. Native vi. iv, Maul down the victuals from corner cupboard if canst reach, man. 1885 Forfar Cornish Poems 17 You mustn't maul the fish about. 1899 Ch. Q. Rev. Jan. 541 We..regret..that it [the First Prayer Book of Edward VI.] was suffered to be mauled about in deference to the rather impertinent objections of foreigners. |
7. intr. (dial.) To toil, work hard. [Perh. a different word: cf. moil v.]
| 1821 Clare Vill. Minstr. I. 16 When he a ploughboy in the fields did maul. Ibid. 138 Huge baskets mauling on. 1871 Brierley Cotters of Mossburn xv. 141 [She] Likes maulin' amung pigs and keaws. |
8. Football. trans. (See quot. 1856.)
| 1856 Rules Football St. Peter's Sch. York vii, The player holding the ball may be mauled; i.e. he may be held and the ball if possible wrested from him. 1867 Rugby School Football Laws 18 When a player holding the ball is mauled by one or more of the opposite side outside goal. |
9. Comb., as maul-text a., that ‘mauls’ his text.
| 1881 P. B. Du Chaillu Land Midnight Sun I. 162 This maul-text preacher was reading in a loud voice verses of the Bible. |
Hence mauled ppl. a., bruised, disfigured.
| a 1700 B.E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Maul'd, swingingly Drunk, or soundly Beat. 1781 F. Burney Diary June, ‘Never was I so mauled in my life!’ said he. 1828 Carlyle Misc. (1857) II. 305 The print of six horsenails on his own mauled visage. 1854 E. Forbes Lit. Papers vii. (1855) 197 Though severely mauled, the huntsman was able to make his way..to his quarters. 1904 Daily Chron. 2 Jan. 8/5 At this the grievously-mauled nigger began to skin him [a lion]. |