muller
English
Pronunciation
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈmʌlɚ/
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈmʌlə/
- Rhymes: -ʌlə(ɹ)
Noun
muller (plural mullers)
Verb
muller (third-person singular simple present mullers, present participle mullering, simple past and past participle mullered)
- To grind up into, or as if into, powder.
- 1848, On Lucifer Matches, in the Pharmaceutical Journal, volume 7 (1847-8), page 523:
- The mixing is conducted in a water-bath, and during this process, and as long as the phosphorus is being ground or 'mullered,' copious fumes are evolved.
- 1901, Patrick Walker, Six Saints of the Covenant, volume 1, page 31:
- I have often thought in my melancholy days, these years bygone, that if it might be supposed, that the souls of our worthies were come from heaven, and the dust of their mullered bodies from their graves, and reunite again;
- 1848, On Lucifer Matches, in the Pharmaceutical Journal, volume 7 (1847-8), page 523:
Noun
muller (plural mullers)
- (metallurgy) A machine that mixes sand and clay for use in metal castings.
Synonyms
- sand muller
Etymology 3
Unknown. The most prosaic theory derives it from muller1 (“to grind into powder”). One theory derives the term from the surname of the murderer Franz Müller,[1] while another theory derives it from the surname of German footballer Gerd Müller;[2] both are phonologically improbable. The Oxford Guide to Etymology →ISBN, 2009) asserts that it is "very probably of Romani origin, from a verb ultimately related to Sanskrit mṛ-' 'to die')."
Verb
muller (third-person singular simple present mullers, present participle mullering, simple past and past participle mullered)
- (Britain) To defeat or destroy utterly (as in a sport or competition).
- 2007, Stephen Cole, Thieves Like Us, page 220:
- Then there were these zombie cult people in the beds, wires and stuff shoved into them, and then Yianna had these two minders and they were the ones who mullered us in Cairo, I swear, and one of them grabbed Con [...]
Quotations
- 1983, Tim Powers, The Anubis Gates, page 4:
- "No— beer was my Bessie's favorite drink, and since she mullered I've not had a drop of it."
References
- Wm. H. Peet, in Notes and Queries, page 337 (25 October 1902): The term "Muller," or "Muller-cut-down," applied to a hat, referred to an incident connected with the murder of Mr. Briggs in a railway carriage on 9 July, 1864. The murderer was Franz Müller, and [...] he was found with his victim's hat [...]. The hat had been specially made for Mr. Briggs, but Müller had had it cut down in a way that was common in the second-hand hat trade. For some years after a low hat was spoken of as a "Muller-cut-down," or a man was spoken of as having had his hat "mullered."
- Cassell's Dictionary of Slang →ISBN, 2005), page 976
- Dictionary of Contemporary Slang →ISBN, 2014), page 298
Aragonese
Etymology
From Latin mulier, mulierem.
Catalan
Etymology
From Latin mulier, mulierem.
Galician
Etymology
From Old Galician and Old Portuguese muller, moller, from Latin mulier, mulierem.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /muˈʎɛɾ/, /muˈɟɛɾ/
Audio (file)
References
- “muller” in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval, SLI - ILGA 2006-2012.
- “muller” in Xavier Varela Barreiro & Xavier Gómez Guinovart: Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval. SLI / Grupo TALG / ILG, 2006-2016.
- “muller” in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval, SLI - ILGA 2006-2012.
- “muller” in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega. Santiago: ILG.
- “muller” in Álvarez, Rosario (coord.): Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués, Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega.