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Glite Dictionary
🔄 An extra chance 🥣 A meat stew
mulligan

mulligan

8 7.9
An extra try you get after a bad attempt, often in games like golf
  • noun
  • /ˈmʌlɪɡən/
  • UK
translation icon : mulligan
  • In golf, a mulligan gives you a second chance if your first shot goes wrong.
  • take a mulligan
  • get a mulligan
  • give a mulligan

Examples

  • Can I take my mulligan?

    Handsome Harry (2009)

  • My hand is not perfect; do I take a mulligan?

    Blog text (10)

  • So everybody gets a mulligan.

    Blog text (16)

  • We always give mulligans on the first drive.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • Take a mulligan.

    Welcome to Mooseport (2004)

  • As far as LaPorta's uninspiring numbers are concerned, Acta said he gives LaPorta a "mulligan" for the year.

    Blog text (25)

  • During the tournament, every player was allowed one mulligan to redo a bad shot.

  • He missed the ball completely, but his friends let him take a mulligan on the next swing.

Synonyms

second chance
vsmulligan
223 2.3

An opportunity to try again after making a mistake

is the sports specific informal name for such an extra attempt
reroll
vsmulligan
  • Jargon
5.8

An extra chance to roll dice to try for a better result

is broader, used in sports and casual play not only for dice

Compounds

mulligan stew
  • US
1 8.4

A thick dish people make from whatever meat and vegetables they have

How Forgiving

mulligan
  • UK
8 7.9
retry
1 3.3

Surface Forms

mulligan singular
mulligans plural

Etymology

Mulligan for a second try probably comes from a golfer named Mulligan who once took an extra shot and whose friends started calling it a 'mulligan'. One popular story says this is how the name came to mean a friendly 'do-over' or 'extra chance' in games like golf.