mal·let

[mal-it]
noun
1.
a hammerlike tool with a head commonly of wood but occasionally of rawhide, plastic, etc., used for driving any tool with a wooden handle, as a chisel, or for striking a surface.
2.
the wooden implement used to strike the balls in croquet.
3.
Polo. the long-handled stick, or club, used to drive the ball.

Origin:
1375–1425; late Middle English maillet < Middle French, equivalent to mail maul + -et -et

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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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World English Dictionary
mallet (ˈmælɪt) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
n
1.  a tool resembling a hammer but having a large head of wood, copper, lead, leather, etc, used for driving chisels, beating sheet metal, etc
2.  a long stick with a head like a hammer used to strike the ball in croquet or polo
3.  chiefly (US) a very large powerful steam locomotive with a conventional boiler but with two separate articulated engine units
 
[C15: from Old French maillet wooden hammer, diminutive of mailmaul (n)]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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00:10
Mallet is always a great word to know.
So is quincunx. Does it mean:
an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle.
a stew of meat, vegetables, potatoes, etc.
Etymonline
Word Origin & History

mallet
1392, from O.Fr. maillet "small wooden hammer," dim. of mail, from L. malleus "hammer," from PIE *mele- "to grind, crush" (cf. L. molere "to grind," Gk. mylos "millstone," O.E. melu "meal," O.C.S. mlatu, Rus. molotu "hammer").
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Slang Dictionary

mallet definition


  1. n.
    a police officer. : Sam was struck by a mallet this noon.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Example sentences
And that idea is: me chasing you with a big wooden mallet.
Drip glue inside each dowel hole and pound dowels into place with a mallet.
Steamed glutinous rice is vigorously pounded with a mallet until it achieves an
  even stickier consistency.
Where shell is thick, it must be broken with a mallet or hammer.
Image for mallet
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