mammock

== English == === Etymology === From mam (of obscure origin) + -ock (diminutive suffix). === Pronunciation === (UK) IPA(key): /ˈmamək/ (US) IPA(key): /ˈmæmək/, /ˈmɑmək/ Rhymes: (US) -æmək === Noun === mammock (plural mammocks) (obsolete outside dialects) A shapeless piece; a fragment. Synonyms: hunk, lump; see also Thesaurus:piece === Verb === mammock (third-person singular simple present mammocks, present participle mammocking, simple past and past participle mammocked) (obsolete outside dialects, chiefly North Carolina, transitive) To tear to pieces. ==== Usage notes ==== In use with varying pronunciation and spelling in tidewater North Carolina among at least the Lumbee and Ocracoke Islanders. ==== Related terms ==== mommick, mummock === Further reading === North Carolina Folklore (1961), volumes 9-14, page 15 mommick : vb. (B, W; WIR, mammock) Tear up or damage something Hilda Jaffe, The Speech of the Central Coast of North Carolina (1965), pages 18-19: […] [mɑ məkt] up the beach, or tell a child to stotp momacking the cat. The Oxford English Dictionary lists it as mammock, pronounced "mæ mək," now "chiefly dial.", meaning to break, cut, or tear into fragments or shreds; it is derived from mammock, "arch. and dial.", a scrap, shred, broken or torn piece.