Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A shapeless piece; a chunk; a fragment.
- To tear in pieces; maul: mangle; mumble.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun obsolete A shapeless piece; a fragment.
- transitive verb obsolete To tear to pieces.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A
shapeless piece ; afragment . - verb archaic or dialectal, transitive To
tear topieces .
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
From mam (of obscure origin) + -ock (“diminutive suffix”).
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Examples
-
None seem wholly dead words except the following eighteen: To _mammock_, tear; _mell_, meddle; _mose_, mourn; _micher_, truant; _mome_, fool;
Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science, Vol. XVI., December, 1880. Various
bilby commented on the word mammock
"I saw him run after a gilded butterfly; and when he caught it he let it go again; and after it again; and over and over he comes, and up again; catched it again; or whether his fall enraged him, or how 'twas, he did so set his teeth and tear it; O, I warrant, how he mammocked it!"
- William Shakespeare, 'The Tragedy of Coriolanus'.
August 28, 2009