What does "mallet" mean?
A type of hammer with a larger-than-usual head made of wood, rubber or similar non-iron material, used by woodworkers for driving a tool, such as a chisel. A kind of maul.
Mallet
/ˈmælɪt/ name, noun, verb
name, noun, verb ·Moderate ·College level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A type of hammer with a larger-than-usual head made of wood, rubber or similar non-iron material, used by woodworkers for driving a tool, such as a chisel. A kind of maul.
- Grammar: mallet is listed as name, noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: hammer, air hammer, ball peen hammer, beater.
- Usage evidence: I have mallet problems at the moment.
How to use "mallet"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "mallet" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "mallet" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "mallet" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "mallet" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "mallet" is acting as name, noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "hammer" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "mallet", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A type of hammer with a larger-than-usual head made of wood, rubber or similar non-iron material, used by woodworkers for driving a tool, such as a chisel. A kind of maul.
"Carpenters use mallets for assembling."
- 2 A type of articulated locomotive having two powered trucks, with the rear truck being rigidly attached to the main body and boiler of the locomotive, while the front powered truck is attached to the rear by a hinge, so that it may swing from side to side, and with the front end of the boiler resting upon a sliding bearing on the swinging front truck.
"Its 50 H-7 2-8-8-2's (30 of which found their way onto the Union Pacific roster in 1945) were simple mainly because a tunnel in the Alleghenies would not accommodate the low-pressure cylinders of any Mallet larger than a 2-6-6-2."
- 3 a tool resembling a hammer but with a large head (usually wooden); used to drive wedges or ram down paving stones or for crushing or beating or flattening or smoothing wordnet
- 4 A weapon resembling the tool, but typically much larger.
"The Mallet of arms, according to the representation of it given by Father Daniel, exactly resembles the wooden instrument of that name, now in use, except in the length of the handle, it was like the hammer of arms, to be used with both hands, indeed it differed very little from that weapon in its form."
- 5 a light drumstick with a rounded head that is used to strike such percussion instruments as chimes, kettledrums, marimbas, glockenspiels, etc. wordnet
Show 4 more definitions
- 6 A small hammer-like tool used for playing certain musical instruments.
- 7 a sports implement with a long handle and a head like a hammer; used in sports (polo or croquet) to hit a ball wordnet
- 8 A light beetle with a long handle used in playing croquet.
"I had had no opportunity as yet of passing on Poirot’s message to Lawrence. But now, as I strolled out on the lawn, still nursing a grudge against my friend’s high-handedness, I saw Lawrence on the croquet lawn, aimlessly knocking a couple of very ancient balls about, with a still more ancient mallet."
- 9 The stick used to strike the ball in the sport of polo.
"I regularly have cause to recall a scene from a novel called Madder Music, by Peter de Vries, in which the main character, a writer who specialises in polo, hears a match announcer telling newcomers to the ground that, contrary to popular belief, the ball is struck with the side of the mallet, rather than the end."
Verb
- 1 To beat or strike with, or as if with, a mallet. transitive
"[…] and when a couple of insurgents ran in to make the capture she malleted them with her rifle."
Proper Noun
- 1 The malicious party in examples of threat scenarios. See Alice and Bob.
"Even if Alice and Bob's public keys are stored on a datavase, this attack will work. Mallet can intercept Alice's database inquiry, and substitute his own public key for Alice's. He can do the same to Bob."
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
"I have mallet problems at the moment."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "mallet"?
Common synonyms include: hammer, air hammer, ball peen hammer, beater, beaters, beetle.
How do you use "mallet" in a sentence?
I have mallet problems at the moment.
How do you pronounce "mallet"?
Pronounced /ˈmælɪt/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English malet, maylet, from Old French mallet, maillet (“a wooden hammer, mallet”), diminutive of mal, mail (“a hammer”), from Latin malleus (“a hammer, mall, mallet”).
Etymology 2
Derived from the name of the inventor, Swiss engineer Anatole Mallet.
Etymology 3
Cryptographic scenarios use archetypal characters with standard names chosen to remember their role: Mallet was derived from "malicious" and "man-in-the-middle attack", as well as the tool mallet.