maul
verb
[ mɔːl ]
• (of an animal) wound (a person or animal) by scratching and tearing.
• "a man was mauled by a lion at London Zoo"
maul
noun
• (in rugby union) a loose scrum formed around a player with the ball off the ground.
• another term for beetle2 (sense 1 of the noun).
Origin:
Middle English (in the sense ‘hammer or wooden club’, also ‘strike with a heavy weapon’): from Old French mail, from Latin malleus ‘hammer’.
