Meanings
mulley1
- alternativenot comparableAlternative form of muley.
Every little while I see in The Rural an article published in favor of growing mulley or hornless stock. Allow an old man of three-score years and ten, to give his experience in raising stock of the mulley kind.
1881 February, John Hankins Wallace, “Polled Cattle”, in Wallace's Monthly, volume 7, number 1, page 291 more example
Surrounding the whole herd, they quietly drove it down into a valley out of sight of the house, and while doing so discovered that of the whole herd there was but one animal sufficiently fat to satisfy the pampered taste of a soldier, and that was a mulley bull.
1893, John D. Bloodgood, Personal Reminiscences of the War, page 77
plural mulleys
- USA hornless or polled animal.
A female caribou has antlers same as a bull, but a cow moose is a mulley.
1929, Lowell Thomas, Woodfill of the Regulars, page 163 - UKchildishdialectalA cow.
Leave milking and dry up old mulley, thy cow.
1573, Thomas Tusser, Five Hundred Points of Good Husbandry1 more example
Little brother must be good, little brother mustn't cry, little brother's going to get a drop of milk from his good old Mulley.
2020, Steigrumur J. Porsteinsson, Einar H. Kvaran, Jón Trausti, 7 best short stories - Iceland - UKdialectalA mule.
'What is a mulley, father?' 'Why a thing, Jan, what had a jack-ass for his father and a 'oss for his mother.'
1933, Report and Transactions - The Devonshire Association for the Advancement of Science, Literature and Art, page 3462 more examples
Although not remarkably up in the world himself, yet he took care that the "mulley," at least, should occupy an elevated position in life; and so he had his stable on the flat roof, at the very top of the house, which is a high one; and he used to walk up and down the long flights of stairs which connected his home with the street below, "like a Christian," as we were once informed.
1864, Kingsbridge Estuary, with Rambles in the Neighbourhood, page 56Being but a little lad, I felt much afraid; With the hazel-rod I had, On the "mulley laid; Donkey kicked and ran away, And to get out of my way Turned into a field of hay, Where awhile he stayed.
1866, Samuel Wills, The British Chief and Other Poems, page 45 - A giant Asian catfish, Wallagonia Attu found in India, Sri Lanka, Burma, Indochina, Thailand, Java, and Sumatra.
I was overwhelmed with mixed feelings of triumph and sorrow I must admit, as I watched the Mulley come swimming along reluctantly, a beautiful, sleek supple black-seeming fish.
2013, Simren Kaur, Fin Feather and Field, page 1342 more examples
Streamlined for action thin, flat and long, it mouth armed with two broad lines of sharp teeth – the mulley is all that it is said to be, a "fresh water shark", an eater of offal and a killer of fish.
1956, The March of India - Volume 8, page 15A closer look revealed a more silvery colouration and proper teeth, identifying it as a mulley (Wallagu attu). It weighed around twenty pounds, and to prove it was no fluke, I caught three smaller.
2011, Jeremy Wade, River Monsters - An upright crank-driven saw with no gate or sash.
I have used the mulley in several mills in this State and Indiana.
1856 December 6, M. English, “Which is the best Saw Mill? The Mulley”, in Scientific American, volume 12, number 13, page 993 more examples
These were complicated and expensive, but might easily be simplified so as to be a very valuable improvement, as the mulley, when it can be got to take the upward stroke safely and surely without increasing the thickness of the saw, is the most economical of all saws.
1870, David Craik, The Practical American Millwright and Miller, page 216The mulley saw was thicker and stiffer than the gate saw, and cut a wider kerf ( Pallett, Elliott, Craik ).
1918, Jay Manuel Whitham, Water Rights Determination: From an Engineering Standpoint, page 56It was a sash saw mill, and as a sash saw mill ran more slowly than a mulley, the capacity of the mill could not have been very large.
1977, Henry Hudson Hutchins, Kit Lane, Recollections of the Pioneers of Western Allegan County, page 32 - A light-weight harvest rake.
a mulley harvest rake, a very light, handy and convenient article, Sam'l Stanton , Plymouth --------Diploma
1852, Transactions of the Michigan State Agricultural Society, page 1041 more example
Many a time has Mr. Waters swung a mulley cradle on the old farm on the north bank of Klinger lake, half way between White Pigeon and Sturgis.
1976, Catherine Howland, Scrapbook History of Decatur, Michigan and Vicinity, page 570 - A mixture of clay and loam.
This works the "mulley" all over the bearing surfaces of the key.
1896, Philip John Davies, Standard Practical Plumbing, page 5442 more examples
The core is placed on a car and ran into the core-oven, where it remains about 15 hours, when it is withdrawn and receives a second coating of "mulley" and black wash, and again placed in the oven for 3 hours. After the core is centred in the mould, the molten iron is poured in, the spindle is then withdrawn, the straw covering consumed, the "mulley" remaining.
1873, “Organ Building– Marbleized Slate”, in The American Exchange and Review, volume 22, page 61Remove the plug, spit on it, smear a little of the mulley over it, and grind in until it gets dry and squeaks, then spit on it again, and grind away, using more mulley if necessary; rinse out with water.
1877 November 16, “Replies to Queries”, in English Mechanic and Mirror of Science and Art, volume 26, page 242
Mulley2
- A surname.
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
mulley. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mulley
“mulley.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mulley. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “mulley,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mulley.
Source: mulley on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.