mutilate

/ˌmjudlˈeɪt/

/ˈmutɪleɪt/

Other forms: mutilated; mutilating; mutilates

Mutilate is a verb that means to injure or ruin, usually in a brutal or messy way. If you drop a cantaloupe into a wood chipper, you'll mutilate that poor melon, with chunks of fruit and rind flying everywhere.

Mutilate can also mean altering an object so it's unrecognizable. Once you mutilate something, it'll no longer resemble its original form. Celebrities who get too much plastic surgery are said to mutilate their faces, because they no longer look like themselves. Mutilate can also describe causing a disfiguring injury. Monsters and evil villains in horror movies tend to mutilate their victims instead of neatly murdering them.

Definitions of mutilate

1. verb

   destroy or injure severely
   “The madman mutilates art work”

   synonyms: cut up, mangle

   type of:

   damage

   inflict damage upon
2. verb

   destroy or injure severely
   “mutilated bodies”

   synonyms: mar

   types:

   force out, gouge

   force with the thumb

   type of:

   maim

   injure or wound seriously and leave permanent disfiguration or mutilation
3. verb

   alter so as to make unrecognizable
   synonyms: mangle, murder

   type of:

   distort, falsify, garble, warp

   make false by mutilation or addition; as of a message or story