Mule
from
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006)
mule
n 1: hybrid offspring of a male donkey and a female horse;
usually sterile
2: a slipper that has no fitting around the heel [syn: {mule},
{scuff}]
from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Mule \Mule\ (m[=u]l), n. [F., a she-mule, L. mula, fem. of
mulus; cf. Gr. my`klos, mychlo`s. Cf. AS. m[=u]l, fr. L.
mulus. Cf. {Mulatto}.]
1. (Zool.) A hybrid animal; specifically, one generated
between an ass and a mare. Sometimes the term is applied
to the offspring of a horse and a she-ass, but that hybrid
is more properly termed a {hinny}. See {Hinny}.
[1913 Webster]
Note: Mules are much used as draught animals. They are hardy,
and proverbial for stubbornness.
[1913 Webster]
2. (Bot.) A plant or vegetable produced by impregnating the
pistil of one species with the pollen or fecundating dust
of another; -- called also {hybrid}.
[1913 Webster]
3. A very stubborn person.
[1913 Webster]
4. A machine, used in factories, for spinning cotton, wool,
etc., into yarn or thread and winding it into cops; --
called also {jenny} and {mule-jenny}.
[1913 Webster]
5. A slipper that has no fitting around the heel.
Syn: mules, scuff, scuffs.
[WordNet 1.5]
{Mule armadillo} (Zool.), a long-eared armadillo (Tatusia
hybrida), native of Buenos Ayres; -- called also {mulita}.
See Illust. under {Armadillo}.
{Mule deer} (Zool.), a large deer ({Cervus macrotis} syn.
{Cariacus macrotis}) of the Western United States. The
name refers to its long ears.
{Mule pulley} (Mach.), an idle pulley for guiding a belt
which transmits motion between shafts that are not
parallel.
{Mule twist}, cotton yarn in cops, as spun on a mule; -- in
distinction from yarn spun on a throstle frame.
[1913 Webster]
from
Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
Mule
(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.
from
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
86 Moby Thesaurus words for "mule":
Cape Colored, Eurasian, Siberian husky, ass, bastard,
beast of burden, bigot, bitter-ender, bullethead, camel, cattalo,
citrange, cross, crossbred, crossbreed, diehard, dogmatist, donkey,
draft animal, dromedary, elephant, fanatic, griffe, half blood,
half-bred, half-breed, half-caste, hardnose, high yellow, hinny,
horse, husky, hybrid, intransigeant, intransigent, jennet, jenny,
ladino, last-ditcher, liger, llama, malamute, manlike, manly,
masculine, maverick, mestee, mestiza, mestizo, metis, metisse,
mixblood, mixed-blood, mongrel, mulatto, mustee, octoroon, ox,
pack horse, perverse fool, pighead, plumcot, positivist, purist,
quadroon, quintroon, reindeer, sambo, silkworm, sledge dog, spider,
spinner, spinning frame, spinning jenny, spinster, standpat,
standpatter, stickler, sumpter, sumpter horse, sumpter mule,
tangelo, throstle, tigon, zebrass, zebrule
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