mauler
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maul
(môl)n.
1.
a. A heavy, long-handled hammer used especially to drive stakes, piles, or wedges.
b. A heavy hammer having a wedge-shaped head and used for splitting logs.
2. Sports
a. A play in Rugby in which a mass of players gathers around a ball carrier being tackled and attempts to gain possession of the ball when it is released.
b. The mass of players during such a play.
tr.v. mauled, maul·ing, mauls
1.
a. To injure or mutilate, as by scratching or beating: stories of hikers mauled by wild animals; a boxer who mauled his opponent. See Synonyms at mangle1.
b. To defeat handily: The home team was mauled in the season opener.
2. To handle or treat roughly, causing damage: The package was mauled by the careless messenger.
3. To split (wood) with a maul and wedge.
maul′er n.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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| Noun | 1. |  mauler - a fighter who batters the opponent; "Jack Dempsey was called a mauler" |
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