Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A pain in the intestines; colic.
- noun Ill temper; sulkiness; the sulks: as, to have the mulligrubs.
- noun The dobson or hellgrammite.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun Slang A griping of the intestines; colic.
- noun Slang Hence, sullenness; the sulks.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun obsolete
colic - noun slang
sullenness ;sulky behaviour
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
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Examples
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"mulligrubs," all stand out in my memory as tragic, and no doubt prepared me to appreciate tragedy later on as a fine art.
Boycotted And Other Stories Talbot Baines Reed 1872
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Even a rival at the Gold Hill Daily News noticed that this favorite writer is melancholy; he has got the mulligrubs. . .
LIGHTING OUT FOR THE TERRITORY JR. ROY MORRIS 2010
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Even a rival at the Gold Hill Daily News noticed that this favorite writer is melancholy; he has got the mulligrubs. . .
LIGHTING OUT FOR THE TERRITORY JR. ROY MORRIS 2010
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She filled the one brimful for her guest, and the other more modestly to about two-thirds of its capacity, for her own use, repeating, as the rich cordial trickled forth in a smooth oily stream — “Right Rosa Solis, as ever washed mulligrubs out of a moody brain!”
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If Cas could pull out of it and lead a normal, useful life, I certainly should not have had the mulligrubs.
Time For The Stars Heinlein, Robert A. 1956
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It is easy enough to say that a pessimist is a person afflicted with an incurable case of mulligrubs -- one whom nothing in all earth or heaven or hades pleases; one who usually deserves nothing, yet grumbles if he gets it.
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He has the mulligrubs because he cannot plant himself on a Congressional cushion, or because he finds his wife awake and nursing a curtain lecture to keep it warm when he falls through the front fence at 5 o'clock in the morning.
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The above slug of "taffy" was accompanied by a woodcut portrait of Miss H-- s which made her resemble a half-naked Indian squaw suffering with an acute attack of mulligrubs, superinduced by an overfeed of baked dog.
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Idleness lies in bed sick of the mulligrubs where industry finds health and wealth.
Brave Men and Women Fuller, O E 1884
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Idleness lies in bed sick of the mulligrubs where industry finds health and wealth.
Brave Men and Women Their Struggles, Failures, And Triumphs 1867
bilby commented on the word mulligrubs
There was a band playing tonight at Cantina Roja. I think they were supposed to be called The Misfits but I referred to them as The Mulligrubs. They didn't seem to mind.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word mulligrubs
Perhaps it was in tribute to Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness? (see melancholy, mubblefubbles, blue devils)
July 11, 2008
trivet commented on the word mulligrubs
She, you know such lovely words for the grumbly mumblies.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word mulligrubs
E'er they be grumbly, and e'er they be mumbly..
July 11, 2008
missanthropist commented on the word mulligrubs
"The mulligrubs"= the blues. I should like to know just what one of these dread beasts look like?
July 16, 2008
knitandpurl commented on the word mulligrubs
"The barber chuckled. 'You're a philosopher, sir, a philosopher.'
'I am, but I'm a blue one. I have the blue mulligrubs.'
'The blue mulligrubs?' Cowper said. I think I know them.'"
-- The Winner of Sorrow by Brian Lynch, p 34
July 12, 2009
jmjarmstrong commented on the word mulligrubs
JM grumps towards the mulligrubs as a career goal.
November 22, 2009
jaime_d commented on the word mulligrubs
"You, Ishmail, phthisic pawn, glutton for musty old manuscripts, puny scribbling runt, martyr to a myriad of sulks, doldrums and mulligrubs, you who lit out, packing just a smock, four shirts and a cotton hanky in your bag. . ." Gilbert Adair translation of Georges Perec's La Disparition
August 11, 2010
ruzuzu commented on the word mulligrubs
"n. The dobson or hellgrammite." --CD&C
February 29, 2012
qms commented on the word mulligrubs
Enmeshed by so grievous events
The sharp pang of panic relents.
Sour fate dully rubs
And makes mulligrubs
From fevers of old discontents.
July 31, 2017
Gammerstang commented on the word mulligrubs
A state of depression or low spirits
January 8, 2018