: a heavy often wooden-headed hammer used especially for driving wedges
also
: a tool like a sledgehammer with one wedge-shaped end that is used to split wood
mauled; mauling; mauls
mauler
noun
Examples of maul in a Sentence
Verb
A bear killed one hiker and badly mauled the other.
demonstrators who claimed that they had been mauled by the police
Recent Examples on the Web
Tim Graham, New York Times, 13 Jan. 2026
The half ended with the Free Jacks once again putting the Sabercats under pressure, trying to force their way over the tryline through a rolling maul, and twice failing to score.
—Vitas Carosella, Forbes.com, 28 June 2025
Stephanie Kaloi, PEOPLE, 4 Feb. 2026
The fate of the man who left a 5-year-old girl to be mauled to death by alligators in the Everglades after trying to kill her mother is about to be in the hands of a Miami jury.
—Grethel Aguila, Miami Herald, 29 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for maul
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Noun
Down four points with 70 seconds to play, and facing fourth-and-1 on Jacksonville’s 11-yard line, Buffalo called for a Josh Allen quarterback sneak, the claw-and-maul play commonly known as the tush push.
—Tim Graham, New York Times, 13 Jan. 2026
The half ended with the Free Jacks once again putting the Sabercats under pressure, trying to force their way over the tryline through a rolling maul, and twice failing to score.
—Vitas Carosella, Forbes.com, 28 June 2025
Verb
The family’s oldest child was once forced to watch her cat be mauled to death by feral dogs after she was caught taking food out of the pantry without permission.
—Stephanie Kaloi, PEOPLE, 4 Feb. 2026
The fate of the man who left a 5-year-old girl to be mauled to death by alligators in the Everglades after trying to kill her mother is about to be in the hands of a Miami jury.
—Grethel Aguila, Miami Herald, 29 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for maul
Cite this Entry
“Maul.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/maul. Accessed 16 Feb. 2026.
Copy CitationKids Definition
maul
1 of 2 noun
: a heavy hammer often with a wooden head used especially for driving wedges or posts
maul
2 of 2 verb
mauler
noun
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