Mules


[myool] /myul/

noun
1.
the sterile offspring of a female horse and a male donkey, valued as a work animal, having strong muscles, a body shaped like a horse, and donkeylike long ears, small feet, and sure-footedness.
Compare .
2.
any hybrid between the donkey and the horse.
3.
Informal. a very stubborn person.
4.
Botany. any sterile hybrid.
5.
Slang. a person paid to carry or transport contraband, especially drugs, for a smuggler.
6.
a small locomotive used for pulling rail cars, as in a coal yard or on an industrial site, or for towing, as of ships through canal locks.
7.
Also called spinning mule. a machine for spinning cotton or other fibers into yarn and winding the yarn on spindles.
8.
Nautical. a large triangular staysail set between two masts and having its clew set well aft.
9.
Numismatics. a hybrid coin having the obverse of one issue and the reverse of the succeeding issue, or vice versa.
10.
Biology. a hybrid, especially one between the canary and some other finch.
[myool] /myul/
noun
1.
a lounging slipper that covers the toes and instep or only the instep.
2.
a woman’s shoe resembling this.
/mjuːlz/
verb
1.
(transitive) (Austral) to perform the Mules operation on (a sheep)
/mjuːl/
noun
1.
the sterile offspring of a male donkey and a female horse, used as a beast of burden Compare hinny1
2.
any hybrid animal: a mule canary
3.
Also called spinning mule. a machine invented by Samuel Crompton that spins cotton into yarn and winds the yarn on spindles
4.
(informal) an obstinate or stubborn person
5.
(slang) a person who is paid to transport illegal drugs for a dealer
/mjuːl/
noun
1.
a backless shoe or slipper
noun

See drug mule
n.

“offspring of donkey and horse,” from Old English mul, Old French mul “mule, hinny” (12c., fem. mule), both from Latin mulus (fem. mula) “a mule,” probably from a pre-Latin Mediterranean language.

The mule combines the strength of the horse with the endurance and surefootedness of the ass, and is extensively bred for certain employments for which it is more suited than either; it is ordinarily incapable of procreation. With no good grounds, the mule is a proverbial type of obstinacy. [OED]

Properly, the offspring of a he-ass and a mare; that of a she-ass and a stallion is technically a hinny. Used allusively of hybrids and things of mixed nature. As a type of spinning machine, attested from 1797 (so called because a hybrid of distinct warp and woof machines). Meaning “obstinate, stupid, or stubborn person” is from 1470s; that of “narcotics smuggler or courier” first attested 1935.

“loose slipper,” 1560s, from Middle French mule, from Latin mulleus calceus “red high-soled shoe,” worn by Roman patricians, from mullus “red” (see mullet (n.1)). Related: Mules.

noun

verb

: Sometimes they mule it in small amounts/ otherwise law-abiding countrymen into performing muling favors

(Heb. pered), so called from the quick step of the animal or its power of carrying loads. It is not probable that the Hebrews bred mules, as this was strictly forbidden in the law (Lev. 19:19), although their use was not forbidden. We find them in common use even by kings and nobles (2 Sam. 18:9; 1 Kings 1:33; 2 Kings 5:17; Ps. 32:9). They are not mentioned, however, till the time of David, for the word rendered “mules” (R.V. correctly, “hot springs”) in Gen. 36:24 (yemim) properly denotes the warm springs of Callirhoe, on the eastern shore of the Dead Sea. In David’s reign they became very common (2 Sam. 13:29; 1 Kings 10:25). Mules are not mentioned in the New Testament. Perhaps they had by that time ceased to be used in Palestine.

see: stubborn as a mule

Read Also:

  • Mule-skinner

    noun, Informal. 1. a muleteer. noun 1. (US & Canadian) an informal term for muleteer

  • Mules operation

    /mjuːlz/ noun 1. (Austral) the surgical removal of folds of skin in the breech of a sheep to reduce blowfly strike

  • Mule-spinning

    noun 1. a process of spinning that produces extremely fine yarn by drawing and twisting the roving, and winding the resultant yarn onto a bobbin or spindle in the form of a cop.

  • Muleta

    [moo-ley-tuh, -let-uh] /muˈleɪ tə, -ˈlɛt ə/ noun 1. a red cloth similar to but smaller than a capa and manipulated by a stick set into one of the three holes in or near the center, for use by a matador in guiding the course of the bull’s attack in the stage of the fight preparatory […]

  • Mule-train

    noun 1. a line of pack mules or a line of wagons drawn by mules.


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