entwine
Americanverb (used with or without object)
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entwines,
present (3rd person singular)
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entwined,
past participle, past
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entwining
present participle
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
entwinesimple
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entwinessimple
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have entwinedperfect
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has entwinedperfect
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am entwiningprogressive
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are entwiningprogressive
-
is entwiningprogressive
-
have been entwiningperfect progressive
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has been entwiningperfect progressive
Past
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entwinedsimple
-
had entwinedperfect
-
was entwiningprogressive
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were entwiningprogressive
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had been entwiningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of entwine
Explanation
To entwine is to twist and tangle or weave together. When you hold hands with someone, you entwine your fingers together. A long-haired girl can entwine flowers in her curls, and she might love it when her pet snake entwines around her arm. When you knit a scarf, you entwine different colors of yarn together. There is also a figurative way to entwine: "Ever since I met you, I knew that our lives would entwine together!" Entwine combines the prefix en-, "make," and twine, "twisted strands," from the Old English twin, "double thread."
Vocabulary lists containing entwine
Stamped
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Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
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The Last Olympian
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
“Making the decision to entwine your financial life with that of strangers can be a really bad idea,” said Maria Gray, who moved to the Upper Woodies about a year-and-a-half before the fires.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 11, 2026
On the surface, they entail a diplomatic entente among nations, while at a deeper level they entwine themselves within the cultures, commerce and values of countless societies.
From Salon ● Sep. 20, 2024
“It was really important to make that journey and entwine those two characters,” Collins notes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 1, 2023
Ms Yellen too has made clear that severing the deep economic ties that now entwine the US and Chinese economies would hurt everyone.
From BBC ● Jul. 7, 2023
I felt as if we were two small trees standing beside each other, leaning towards each other, our branches and twigs starting to entwine, bonded by our secret and by our growing friendship.
From "Code Name Kingfisher" by Liz Kessler
It entwines with healthy cells, meaning it can't be removed surgically.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 2, 2023
The wrap visually entwines the culture, community and colours of Notting Hill Carnival and the 75-year history of Windrush, TfL said.
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2023
Still, trade entwines the U.S. and Chinese economies.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 2, 2023
Yehoshua masterfully entwines social commentary with a portrait of a mind in decline.
From New York Times ● Aug. 27, 2020
My green cloud entwines with his silver one, and I feel the recent tension between us lift a little.
From "A Mango-Shaped Space" by Wendy Mass
Raves have become entwined with D&B’s push to boost its numbers, a way the company is trying to distinguish itself in the ubercompetitive “eatertainment” landscape that it helped create.
From Slate ● Jun. 25, 2026
Newlyweds Tito Avalos, 26, and Andrea Avalos, 24, who were visiting from El Salvador, tied their wishes to a tree together, their wrists entwined and fingers clasped.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 10, 2026
The nexus between energy security and national security has become ever more entwined.
From Salon ● May 21, 2026
While sorting though the donations, volunteers at Food Works Sheffield uncovered two carrots so tightly entwined they looked as though they were embracing.
From BBC ● Feb. 14, 2026
The greenery of outside had come cascading in over the last hundred years, and there was a piano, entwined in ivy, and a cello, and some wooden instruments Christopher had never seen, covered in vines.
From "Impossible Creatures" by Katherine Rundell
The message harked back to the old U.S. policy of further entwining the American and Chinese economies, breaking with an approach pioneered during the first Trump administration to untangle business ties, largely for national-security reasons.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 14, 2026
So, too, is the film’s music, composer Anthony Willis and soundtrack artist Charlie XCX entwining raspy strings with grimy, ominous shudders.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 11, 2026
Pets and humans have ever-broader options for entwining their daily lives, routines and milestone moments.
From Salon ● Jun. 16, 2025
Since that melancholic night nearly four decades ago, Ms. Komara has refashioned an ancient art by entwining disparate textile traditions with an aesthetic all her own to create a modern Indonesian silhouette.
From New York Times ● Jun. 30, 2023
Mum Olga sighed, entwining her arm in his.
From "Ella Enchanted" by Gail Carson Levine
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
