The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
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.
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Note: Mules are much used as draught animals. They are hardy,
and proverbial for stubbornness.
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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.
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3. A very stubborn person.
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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.
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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.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Deer \Deer\ (d[=e]r), n. sing. & pl. [OE. der, deor, animal,
wild animal, AS. de['o]r; akin to D. dier, OFries. diar, G.
thier, tier, Icel. d[=y]r, Dan. dyr, Sw. djur, Goth. dius; of
unknown origin. [root]71.]
1. Any animal; especially, a wild animal. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
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Mice and rats, and such small deer. --Shak.
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The camel, that great deer. --Lindisfarne
MS.
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2. (Zool.) A ruminant of the genus Cervus, of many species,
and of related genera of the family Cervid[ae]. The
males, and in some species the females, have solid
antlers, often much branched, which are shed annually.
Their flesh, for which they are hunted, is called
venison.
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Note: The deer hunted in England is Cervus elaphus, called
also stag or red deer; the fallow deer is Cervus
dama; the common American deer is Cervus
Virginianus; the blacktailed deer of Western North
America is Cervus Columbianus; and the mule deer of
the same region is Cervus macrotis. See Axis,
Fallow deer, Mule deer, Reindeer.
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Note: Deer is much used adjectively, or as the first part of
a compound; as, deerkiller, deerslayer, deerslaying,
deer hunting, deer stealing, deerlike, etc.
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Deer mouse (Zool.), the white-footed mouse (Peromyscus
leucopus, formerly Hesperomys leucopus) of America.
Small deer, petty game, not worth pursuing; -- used
metaphorically. (See citation from Shakespeare under the
first definition, above.) "Minor critics . . . can find
leisure for the chase of such small deer." --G. P. Marsh.
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