mullah

• IPA^(key): /ˈmʊ.lə/, /ˈmʌ.lə/
• Rhymes: -ʊlə

Derived from Classical Persian ملا (mullā), from Arabic مَوْلًى (mawlan, “vicar, guardian”).

mullah (plural mullahs)

1. (Islam) A religious scholar and teacher of sharia law.

   Hypernym: cleric

   • 2024 April 15, Anne Applebaum, “Why Did U.S. Planes Defend Israel but Not Ukraine?”, in The Atlantic‎:

     Leading Republicans do not sympathize with the mullahs, do not repeat their talking points, and do not seek to appease them when they make outrageous claims about other countries.

2. (India, religious slur, slang) A conservative Muslim leader or cleric, especially one who is hostile against other religions.

   Hypernym: cleric

3. (India, religious slur, slang, by extension) A Muslim.

mullah (third-person singular simple present mullahs, present participle mullahing, simple past and past participle mullahed)

1. (transitive, UK, slang) Alternative form of muller (“to beat, thrash”)
   • 2009, Nigel Benn, The Dark Destroyer:

     But I mullahed him. He may have been four inches taller but I punched him through the ropes and knocked the granny and the grandad out of him.

   • 2016, Ben Cohen, Carry Me Home: My Autobiography, page 76:

     The Sevens practice session was touch rugby, but every time Harvey got the ball, I absolutely mullahed him. I pushed him, dumped him on his arse, ran through him. Every time.

• Hallum

• mulla

< Arabic مُلَّا (mullā)

• IPA^(key): /ˈmulːɑh/, [ˈmulːɑ̝h]
• Rhymes: -ulːɑh
• Syllabification^(key): mul‧lah

mullah

1. mullah (islamic scholar)

• “mullah”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎ (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2023-07-03

mullah m (plural mullahs)

1. Alternative spelling of mollah