Dictionary-Definition.com :: MULE definition

Definition of 'mule'

noun

Hybrid offspring of a male donkey and a female horse; usually sterile

noun

A slipper that has no fitting around the heel [syn: mule, scuff]

From: GCIDE

Mule \Mule\ (m[=u]l), n. [F., a she-mule, L. mula, fem. of mulus; cf. Gr. my`klos, mychlo`s. Cf. AS. m[=u]l, fr. L. mulus. Cf. Mulatto.]
1. (Zool.) A hybrid animal; specifically, one generated between an ass and a mare. Sometimes the term is applied to the offspring of a horse and a she-ass, but that hybrid is more properly termed a hinny. See Hinny. [1913 Webster]
Note: Mules are much used as draught animals. They are hardy, and proverbial for stubbornness. [1913 Webster]
2. (Bot.) A plant or vegetable produced by impregnating the pistil of one species with the pollen or fecundating dust of another; -- called also hybrid. [1913 Webster]
3. A very stubborn person. [1913 Webster]
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. [1913 Webster]
5. A slipper that has no fitting around the heel.
Syn: mules, scuff, scuffs. [WordNet 1.5]
Mule armadillo (Zool.), a long-eared armadillo (Tatusia hybrida), native of Buenos Ayres; -- called also mulita. See Illust. under Armadillo.
Mule deer (Zool.), a large deer (Cervus macrotis syn. 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. [1913 Webster]

Mule (Heb. pered), so called from the quick step of the animal or its power of carrying loads. It is not probable that the Hebrews bred mules, as this was strictly forbidden in the law (Lev. 19:19), although their use was not forbidden. We find them in common use even by kings and nobles (2 Sam. 18:9; 1 Kings 1:33; 2 Kings 5:17; Ps. 32:9). They are not mentioned, however, till the time of David, for the word rendered "mules" (R.V. correctly, "hot springs") in Gen. 36:24 (yemim) properly denotes the warm springs of Callirhoe, on the eastern shore of the Dead Sea. In David's reign they became very common (2 Sam. 13:29; 1 Kings 10:25).
Mules are not mentioned in the New Testament. Perhaps they had by that time ceased to be used in Palestine.