maul
Word family verbmaulnounmaulers
maul /mɔːl $ mɒːl/ verb [transitiveT] → mall1 ATTACKif an animal mauls someone, it injures them badly by tearing their flesh 〔动物〕袭击,撕咬 A mentally ill man was mauled after climbing into the lions’ enclosure at London Zoo. 一个精神病人爬进伦敦动物园的狮子围场后遭狮子袭击。
2 CRITICIZEto strongly criticize something, especially a new book, play etc 抨击〔尤对新书、新戏剧等〕 Her latest book was absolutely mauled by the critics. 她的新书被评论家们批得体无完肤。
3 SYto touch someone in a rough sexual way which they think is unpleasant 对〔某人〕粗野地动手动脚 What makes you think you’ve got the right to maul me like that? 你凭什么认为你可以对我那样动手动脚的?
4 informal to defeat someone very easily – used especially in sports reports 轻松击败〔尤用于体育报道中〕 Stanford have looked quite good lately. They absolutely mauled Notre Dame last weekend. 斯坦福大学队最近表现很好,他们上周末轻松击败了圣母大学队。
—mauling noun [singular] Brown got a mauling over the government’s failure to fulfil its promises. 布朗因政府未兑现承诺而饱受批评。
Origin maul (1300-1400) maul “hammer” ((13-20 centuries)), from Old French mail, from Latin malleus