Mule \Mule\ (m[=u]l), n. [F., a she-mule, L. mula, fem. of
   mulus; cf. Gr. my`klos, mychlo`s. Cf. AS. m[=u]l, fr. L.
   mulus. Cf. Mulatto.]
   1. (Zool.) A hybrid animal; specifically, one generated
      between an ass and a mare. Sometimes the term is applied
      to the offspring of a horse and a she-ass, but that hybrid
      is more properly termed a hinny. See Hinny.
      [1913 Webster]

   Note: Mules are much used as draught animals. They are hardy,
         and proverbial for stubbornness.
         [1913 Webster]

   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.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. A very stubborn person.
      [1913 Webster]

   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.
      [1913 Webster]

   5. A slipper that has no fitting around the heel.

   Syn: mules, scuff, scuffs.
        [WordNet 1.5]

   Mule armadillo (Zool.), a long-eared armadillo (Tatusia
      hybrida), native of Buenos Ayres; -- called also mulita.
      See Illust. under Armadillo.

   Mule deer (Zool.), a large deer (Cervus macrotis syn.
      Cariacus 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.
      [1913 Webster]

Deer \Deer\ (d[=e]r), n. sing. & pl. [OE. der, deor, animal,
   wild animal, AS. de['o]r; akin to D. dier, OFries. diar, G.
   thier, tier, Icel. d[=y]r, Dan. dyr, Sw. djur, Goth. dius; of
   unknown origin. [root]71.]
   1. Any animal; especially, a wild animal. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
      [1913 Webster]

            Mice and rats, and such small deer.   --Shak.
      [1913 Webster]

            The camel, that great deer.           --Lindisfarne
                                                  MS.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. (Zool.) A ruminant of the genus Cervus, of many species,
      and of related genera of the family Cervid[ae]. The
      males, and in some species the females, have solid
      antlers, often much branched, which are shed annually.
      Their flesh, for which they are hunted, is called
      venison.
      [1913 Webster]

   Note: The deer hunted in England is Cervus elaphus, called
         also stag or red deer; the fallow deer is Cervus
         dama; the common American deer is Cervus
         Virginianus; the blacktailed deer of Western North
         America is Cervus Columbianus; and the mule deer of
         the same region is Cervus macrotis. See Axis,
         Fallow deer, Mule deer, Reindeer.
         [1913 Webster]

   Note: Deer is much used adjectively, or as the first part of
         a compound; as, deerkiller, deerslayer, deerslaying,
         deer hunting, deer stealing, deerlike, etc.
         [1913 Webster]

   Deer mouse (Zool.), the white-footed mouse (Peromyscus
      leucopus, formerly Hesperomys leucopus) of America.

   Small deer, petty game, not worth pursuing; -- used
      metaphorically. (See citation from Shakespeare under the
      first definition, above.) "Minor critics . . . can find
      leisure for the chase of such small deer." --G. P. Marsh.
      [1913 Webster]