to shoe one's mule
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
To appropriate moneys committed to one's trust.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “to shoe one's mule” mean?
To appropriate moneys committed to one's trust.
Is “to shoe one's mule” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.