WordWeight : Weighing the Words

Pronunciation : Mule
Part of Speech : n.
Etymology : [F., a she-mule, L. mula, fem. of mulus; cf. Gr. m, fr. L. mulus. Cf. Mulatto.]
Definition : 1. (Zo?l.)

Defn: A hybrid animal; specifically, one generated between an ass and a mare, sometimes a horse and a she-ass. See Hinny.

Note: Mules are much used as draught animals. They are hardy, and proverbial for stubbornness.

2. (Bot.)

Defn: A plant or vegetable produced by impregnating the pistil of one species with the pollen or fecundating dust of another; -- called also hybrid.

3. A very stubborn person.

4. A machine, used in factories, for spinning cotton, wool, etc., into yarn or thread and winding it into cops; -- called also jenny and mule-jenny. Mule armadillo (Zo?l.), a long-eared armadillo (Tatusia hybrida), native of Buenos Ayres; -- called also mulita. See Illust. under Armadillo. -- Mule deer (Zo?l.), a large deer (Cervus, or Cariacus, macrotis) of the Western United States. The name refers to its long ears. -- Mule pulley (Mach.), an idle pulley for guiding a belt which transmits motion between shafts that are not parallel. -- Mule twist, cotton yarn in cops, as spun on a mule; -- in distinction from yarn spun on a throstle frame.
Source : Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913