What does "mule" mean?
The generally sterile male or female hybrid offspring of a male donkey and a female horse.
Mule
/mjuːl/ name, noun, verb, slang
name, noun, verb, slang ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: The generally sterile male or female hybrid offspring of a male donkey and a female horse.
- Grammar: mule is listed as name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: animal, antelope, armadillo, ass.
- Useful contrasts: boot, closed toe shoe, cooperative person.
- Usage evidence: I thought our boss was stubborn as a mule but actually he has his cute side.
How to use "mule"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "mule" 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 "mule" 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 "mule" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "mule" 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 "mule" is acting as name, noun, verb, slang 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 "animal" 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 "mule", 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 The generally sterile male or female hybrid offspring of a male donkey and a female horse.
"One day he ran into a herd of a half dozen elk, so he rode his mule down the canyon three or four miles, leaving the sheep alone."
- 2 Any shoe with an upper covering the front of the foot but without a back flap or strap, leaving the heel exposed.
"The bride was a shocking housekeeper and dragged round all day in boudoir cap, frowsy negligee and mules—slip, slop, slip, slop."
- 3 hybrid offspring of a male donkey and a female horse; usually sterile wordnet
- 4 The generally sterile hybrid offspring of any two species of animals.
"It would be exceedingly interesting to know if the hybrid would reproduce, a matter I deem exceedingly doubtful, for the chances are it would prove a "mule" (infertile)."
- 5 a slipper that has no fitting around the heel wordnet
Show 8 more definitions
- 6 A hybrid plant. archaic
"Vegetable mules supply an irrefragable argument in favour of the sexual system of botany."
- 7 A stubborn person. informal
""Where in the hell do you think I learned to be such a mule?”"
- 8 A person paid to smuggle drugs. slang
"Cocaine packet ingestion (these patients referred to as “mules”) may warrant surgery, Golytely or expectant passage."
- 9 A coin or medal minted with obverse and reverse designs not normally seen on the same piece, either intentionally or in error.
"What is less clear, however, is why mint workers should have chosen to produce mules, if they were making forgeries […]"
- 10 A MMORPG character, or NPC companion in a tabletop RPG, used mainly to store extra inventory for the owner's primary character.
"He was in the middle of organizing his massive stash of rare and exquisite bounty, all kept safely in the inventory cache of a mule, an entirely separate character which he paid a monthly fee to maintain exclusively for that purpose."
- 11 Any of a group of cocktails involving ginger ale or ginger beer, citrus juice, and various liquors.
- 12 A kind of triangular sail for a yacht.
"In heavier seas where a boat must sail a course dictated by waves, or where wave action makes power more important than pointing, the mule will prove the faster sail."
- 13 A kind of cotton-spinning machine.
Verb
- 1 To smuggle (illegal drugs). slang, transitive
"There are many drug lords, each with his own corridor (think of it as a franchise of sorts) funneling narcotics into Texas. There are multifold methods of transport. The old, and still viable, way is to "mule" it across the Rio Grande in a small boat."
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname.
Antonyms
Example
"I thought our boss was stubborn as a mule but actually he has his cute side."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "mule"?
Common synonyms include: animal, antelope, armadillo, ass, backless shoe, bastard.
How do you use "mule" in a sentence?
I thought our boss was stubborn as a mule but actually he has his cute side.
How do you pronounce "mule"?
Pronounced /mjuːl/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English mule, from Anglo-Norman mule and Old English mūl, both from Latin mūlus, from Proto-Indo-European *mukslós. Compare Late Latin muscellus (“young he-mule”), Old East Slavic мъшкъ (mŭškŭ, “mule”), Ancient Greek (Phocian) μυχλός (mukhlós, “he-ass”), and German Maul Maultier, Maulesel (through Latin).
Etymology 2
From Middle French mule (“backless slipper”), from Medieval Latin mula (“slipper, shoe with a thick sole”), presumably from classical Latin mulleus, the dyed shoe of either the patricians or senators, from mūllus (“red mullet”) + -eus (“-y: forming adjectives”), from Ancient Greek μύλλος (múllos).
Etymology 3
Various origins: * A nickname for a stubborn person, from Middle English mule (“mule”) or, alternatively, an occupational surname for a driver of pack animals. * Borrowed from Italian Mulè. * Borrowed from French Mule.