mule

CEFRB1

/mjuːl/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    An animal born from a horse and a donkey.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    A hybrid plant.

Examples

  • If you mate a horse with an ass you will get a mule.

  • The harassed mule got his back up and began kicking up dust.

At a glance

Sits at B1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
5
Synonyms
5

Also pronounced

  • /mjuwəɫ/
  • /mjʉl/

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. The generally sterile male or female hybrid offspring of a male donkey and a female horse.

  2. The generally sterile hybrid offspring of any two species of animals.

  3. A stubborn person.

More examples

In context

  • The old man loaded his mule with bags full of sand.

  • It would be exceedingly interesting to know if the hybrid would reproduce, a matter I deem exceedingly doubtful, for the chances are it would prove a "mule" (infertile).

  • One day he ran into a herd of a half dozen elk, so he rode his mule down the canyon three or four miles, leaving the sheep alone.

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The farmer bred a horse and a donkey to produce a strong blank for hauling heavy loads.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

Old English mūl Middle English mule English mule Inherited from Middle English mule, from Anglo-Norman mule (“she-mule”) and Old English mūl, both ultimately from Latin mūlus, from Proto-Indo-European *mukslós. Compare Late Latin muscellus (“young he-mule”), Old East Slavic мъшкъ (mŭškŭ, “mule”), Ancient Greek (Phocian) μυχλός (mukhlós, “he-ass”), and German Maul Maultier, Maulesel (through Latin).