mell

¹ American  

[mel] / mɛl /

verb (used with object)

1. to blend; mix; meld.

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verb (used without object)

1. to meddle; concern oneself.

mell ² American  

[mel] / mɛl /

noun

1. a heavy hammer; mallet.

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verb (used with object)

1. to beat with a mallet; hammer.

Etymology

Origin of mell¹

1250–1300; Middle English mellen < Middle French meller; meddle

Origin of mell²

1250–1300; Middle English, variant of mall hammer < Old French mal, mail < Latin malleus

Example Sentences

Twice each summer 10 horses and riders representing the various “contrade” or districts of the city run pell mell around a temporary clay track.

From New York Times • Oct. 31, 2018

You saw the morale of our men - everyone was fleeing pell mell.

From Reuters • Dec. 10, 2012

It’s a photo of a real person, for starters, which means it can and likely will be distributed across the Internet pell mell and willy nilly without its disclaimer.

From Salon • May 24, 2012

Riding down the Chinese front line they cut a swath into which Japanese infantry poured pell mell, yelling.

From Time Magazine Archive

Now it is eighty thousand and leaping pell mell on in a mathematical progression—a hundred thousand in three years and perhaps two hundred thousand in ten, with no end in sight.

From "Travels with Charley in Search of America" by John Steinbeck