Mall or maul?
mall is a noun meaning “A pedestrianised street, especially a shopping precinct”; maul is a noun meaning “A heavy long-handled hammer, used for splitting logs by driving a wedge into…”. They sound the same (/mɔːl/). In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) mall is about 25 times as common as maul.
What is the difference between mall and maul?
| mall | maul | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | noun, verb | noun, verb |
| Meaning | AustraliaCanadaUSA pedestrianised street, especially a shopping precinct An enclosed shopping centre to beat with a mall, or mallet; to beat with something heavy; to bruise | A heavy long-handled hammer, used for splitting logs by driving a wedge into them, or in combat A situation where the player carrying the ball, who must be on his feet, is held by one or more opponents, and one or more of the ball carrier's team mates… To handle someone or something in a rough way |
| Example | none recorded | The bear mauled him in a terrible way |
| Forms | malls | mauls |
| Pronunciation | /mɔːl/ /mæl/ | /mɔːl/ |
| In writing | 19 times per million words | about once in every 1 million words |
Sources: mall and maul in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of mall and maul
mall
- 1
AustraliaCanadaUSA pedestrianised street, especially a shopping precinct
- 2
to beat with a mall, or mallet; to beat with something heavy; to bruise
- 3
An enclosed shopping centre
- 4
to build up with the development of shopping malls
- 5
A public walk; a level shaded walk, a promenade
- 6
informalto shop at the mall
- 7
A heavy wooden mallet or hammer used in the game of pall mall
maul
- 1
A heavy long-handled hammer, used for splitting logs by driving a wedge into them, or in combat
- 2
To handle someone or something in a rough way
- 3
A situation where the player carrying the ball, who must be on his feet, is held by one or more opponents, and one or more of the ball carrier's team mates bind onto the ball carrier
- 4
To savage; to cause serious physical wounds
The bear mauled him in a terrible way
- 5
The fruit of the Washingtonia species
- 6
To criticise harshly
The latest film by the Cohen brothers was mauled by the press, and was a box-office flop to boot
- 7
To beat with a maul
- 8
slangTo play rough, to fondle intensively
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, mall or maul?
mall appears 19 times per million words; maul about once in every 1 million words.
mall 19 times per million wordsmaul about once in every 1 million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).