\Mu"ti*late\, a. [L. mutilatus, p. p. of mutilare to
mutilate, fr. mutilus maimed; cf. Gr. ?, ?. Cf. {Mutton}.]
1. Deprived of, or having lost, an important part; mutilated.
   --Sir T. Browne.
2. (Zo["o]l.) Having finlike appendages or flukes instead of
   legs, as a cetacean.

\Mu"ti*late\, n. (Zo["o]l.)
A cetacean, or a sirenian.

\Mu"ti*late\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Mutilated}; p. pr. &
vb. n. {Mutilating}.]
1. To cut off or remove a limb or essential part of; to maim;
   to cripple; to hack; as, to mutilate the body, a statue,
   etc.
2. To destroy or remove a material part of, so as to render
   imperfect; as, to mutilate the orations of Cicero.
         Among the mutilated poets of antiquity, there is
         none whose fragments are so beautiful as those of
         Sappho.                               --Addison.
{Mutilated gear}, {Mutilated wheel} (Mach.), a gear wheel
   from a portion of whose periphery the cogs are omitted. It
   is used for giving intermittent movements.