How to pronounce mule

Love words? Try a free round: no sign-up, about two minutes. Play free

What mule means

noun

Most people know mule in its everyday sense. Here's its other meaning.

A shoe or slipper that is open at the heel

In a sentence: Mom slipped her feet into fuzzy mules and shuffled to the kitchen.

Where it comes from: It comes from a French word for a backless slipper, from a Latin word for a shoe. That word presumably goes back to the red shoes worn by important men in ancient Rome. It is a different word from the animal.

Can you spot the real meaning? Play Wordfib

One free round, no sign-up. Wordfib shows a word and four meanings: one real, three fibs.

All Wordfib words →