Mule (mūl), n. [F., a she-mule, L. mula, fem. of mulus; cf. Gr. μύκλοσ, μυχλόσ. Cf. AS. mūl, fr. L. mulus. Cf. Mulatto.] 1. (Zoöl.) A hybrid animal; specifically, one generated between an ass and a mare, sometimes a horse and a she-ass. See Hinny.
☞ Mules are much used as draught animals. They are hardy, and proverbial for stubbornness.
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.
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(Zoöl.), a long-eared armadillo (Tatusia hybrida), native of Buenos Aires; — called also mulita. See Illust. under Armadillo. — Mule deer(Zoöl.), a large deer (Cervus, orCariacus, 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.